Name or Shame
by DeadlySerenade
Summary: My first collaboration, between Tallulah-sama and me! A boring summer day soon turns wrong when a dead Rudie is found slaughtered in the streets! Mew's determined to find out what's going on, but it's not easy when her own conscience protests...
1. The Song

(A/N from Mazaki Sora: Well, seeing as I totally SUCK at JGR fictions, I didn't want this idea of mine to go unheeded! So, I asked Tallulah-sama for help seeing as one) she's a TERRIFIC JGR writer, two) I liked this idea except it's JGR and I know the characters of JGR, but nothing about the areas --, three) Tallulah's such a nice person and a very good friend. I consider it an honor to write a collaboration with her ^^)  
  
(A/N from Tallulah: Aw, you're making me blush ^_^ Well, I figured this could be fun, and I think Sora's cool, so I thought why not go for it? Hope you enjoy the story!)  
  
Chapter One: The Song  
  
By Mazaki Sora  
  
~  
  
Mew yawned. Yes, she seemed to be doing that a lot these days, seeing as she was bored out of her mind. It sucked, to say the least.  
  
Mew rolled over on her back, dangling her arm over the edge of the sound system. She began a staring contest with the ceiling, annoyed to see that she was failing miserably.  
  
"Can someone turn on Jet Set Radio?" she asked feebly, turning her head to see the other nine GG's either asleep, half-asleep, or wide-awake due to way too much coffee...  
  
"You're the one sleeping on the radio! You turn it on!" muttered Gum from her position on the floor.  
  
Grumbling, Mew reached over and flicked on the radio.  
  
"Yo yo yo!! K-Man is in the house!! Hey all you cool cats out there, how's summer goin' for ya!?"  
  
Several groans and a 'Shut up!'  
  
"Well, mine's goin' just fine! In fact, on my vacation to the Bahamas-"  
  
More irritated groans.  
  
"-I found a little 'gift', if you will, for all you listeners! It's a little record I picked up in some freaky little voodoo shop! Let's test it out, shall we? Hahaha!"  
  
There was the sound of a record being thrown on the board and the scratching sound of the needle being placed on it. A second later, music filled the garage.  
  
"What the fuck is that? It sucks..." Tab complained.  
  
The music playing was eerie sounding, with the sounds of drums and rattles, accented by what sounded like a little girl chanting something in some strange language.  
  
"Okay, this is some weird shit. For one, I can't understand it! It's in gibberish or summat," Beat muttered, covering his face with his hands.  
  
"Turn off the radio! I don't think we want that shit playing in our garage!" Garam yelled from his slouched position on the stairs.  
  
"Hold on a minute! I wanna listen to it! It sounds kinda cool," Mew protested, swinging her arm back and forth to the music.  
  
"It sounds like shit, Mew. Just turn it off and do our eardrums a favor!" Piranha groaned.  
  
Mew pouted and was about to complain when Cube cut in from her position in the corner.  
  
"Just let the kitten listen to her music. Who said you had to listen to it? Go outside or something."  
  
"Whatever. If she's gonna listen to that- whatever that is, then I'm outta here," Gum muttered, standing up. She stepped over the various GG's lying on the floor until she reached the door. With a slam, she was gone.  
  
"I'm gonna go join Gum," Beat said quietly. He too left.  
  
A few seconds later Tab and Garam left, followed by Piranha, Yo-Yo, and Slate.  
  
"Spoil-sports..." Mew grumbled. Cube sat silently in the corner, staring at the radio with a very weird look in her eyes. Combo, being Cube's good friend, had stayed behind and was sitting on the couch, glancing at Cube every now and then.  
  
~  
  
Shibuya-cho  
  
~  
  
Indigo scowled at the Love Shocker tag hugging the side of the bus.  
  
"I am soooo sick of those bitches!!" Indigo growled, pulling out a spray can. After flicking on Jet Set Radio, she started shaking up the can angrily. But the shaking slowed to a stop, and the angry look faded.  
  
The eerie music floated from her wristwatch, making her dark face pale.  
  
"No... I know this song! Stop playing it!" she dropped the spray can and backed away from the tag.  
  
"STOP PLAYING IT!" she shrieked, as if her message might reach DJ Professor K. She fumbled with her wristwatch, suddenly forgetting how to turn it off in her panic.  
  
"Dammit!" she cursed, pressing random buttons. The music faded until it was gone. She paled even more.  
  
"It's too late..."  
  
She turned and dashed away, brushing past a Noise Tank whom had been tagging a billboard near her.  
  
A shadow stood atop a building, watching the fishnet-clad girl dashing away. It smirked.  
  
~  
  
Gum skated through the bus terminal, looking around her in an alert fashion. It had been about half an hour since she'd left the garage, but she didn't intend upon going back just because the song was long done. After all, she wasn't finished here just yet. Just as she passed a bus, she skidded to a halt. Splattered across the side of the bus was a large Love Shocker tag, the reds and pinks smirking at Gum. She growled.  
  
"Damn Love Shockers," she snarled, skating over to the bus. She looked down to see a spray can on the ground. Curious, she stooped down and grabbed it. Straightening up, she shook it slightly.  
  
"Full? Why would a Love Shocker leave behind a full can?" she shrugged it off and sent a stream of paint across the tag, expecting to see a shade of red or pink, but was surprised to see dark purple liquid splatter across the surface.  
  
"Okay, so it's not Love Shocker paint. Maybe Beat was here and didn't finish the job, or maybe a renegade. Coulda even been a Noise Tank. Well, I might as well finish what whoever owned this started."  
  
~  
  
Mew skated silently through Shibuya-cho, ignoring the feeling of the warm breeze tossing her hair in her face and rippling her skirt. The sun beat down harshly on the city and Mew swore she could see the heat rising from the concrete. She wondered for a second if the pavement was hot enough to melt the wheels off her skates. She sure hoped it couldn't.  
  
When the song had ended, Cube and Combo had left to go tag with the others, and seeing as Mew didn't like being alone, she had left too.  
  
Sighing, Mew gathered up her sleeve and pushed it up her arm as she skated. After getting it to stay above her elbow, she grabbed the other and pushed it up also. Feeling slightly more refreshed, she sped up and glided around the corner.  
  
As she skated forward, she heard a sloshing noise, like someone stepping in water.  
  
"What the-"  
  
She looked down to see a trail of red liquid across her path, and she was standing in the middle of it. Jumping back, she looked up the stream of thick red fluid to the source - and wished she hadn't.  
  
~  
  
Throwing the spray can aside and grabbing her own, Gum slapped her own 'Minty Cool Flavor' across the Love Shocker tag. She threw the empty can to the ground and stepped on it with a crunch. Kicking the crushed can away, Gum turned and was about to start off again when she froze.  
  
A loud scream ripped through the summer air, echoing throughout the terminal.  
  
"What the-!?"  
  
Gum took off as fast as her skates would carry her. Another scream, obviously female. She turned a corner and skidded to a halt. Mew was standing next to a stream of blood, hands covering her mouth, and eyes wide. Gum dashed up to her and grabbed her arm.  
  
"What is it? Mew, what's the matter!?"  
  
Breathing in a very panicked fashion, Mew pointed behind Gum, to the source of the blood. Gum turned to see what she had indicated.  
  
Lying on the ground in a pool of blood was a dead Rudie. It was obviously a Noise Tank, with its shiny white suit, robot mask, and tank-tread skates. It had been mutilated to the point that it was almost in pieces. The body was riddled with slashes and looked like something had tried to tear it in half.  
  
Quickly, Gum grabbed Mew's arm and led her away from the gruesome scene as fast as their skates would allow.  
  
~  
  
Garage  
  
~  
  
Mew sat on the sound system again, hugging her knees to her chest. She was rocking back and forth slightly and tears stained her face.  
  
She was aware of the other GG's huddled together, talking and constantly glancing worriedly at her.  
  
'How come Gum's not freaked out by seeing a dead body? Am I supposed to not be freaked out? Is it because I'm weak? I don't get it. Why can't I be brave? Gum's brave. They're all brave. If I'm such a wimp, then what am I doing here anyway?'  
  
She watched as Gum explained what they saw. She looked slightly pale, but other than that, fine.  
  
'How can she be fine?'  
  
"It was a Noise Tank, right?" Piranha asked. Gum nodded.  
  
"What was a Noise Tank doing in Shibuya? Aren't they Benten Rudies?" Tab questioned.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe he was there to take our turf or something. The real question is: who did it? And why? The Keisatsu aren't THAT cold blooded," Gum ended in a dark tone.  
  
"She's right. Oni, bastard he is, wouldn't do something like this," Beat stated.  
  
"What about the Golden Rhinos? Sounds a lot like something they'd pull," Cube muttered, suddenly looking twice as morbid.  
  
"Nope, can't be them. We got rid of them and I don't think they are coming back."  
  
"Is Mew gonna be okay?" Garam asked quietly, glancing over at her before looking back at Gum.  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
They all looked at Mew, who was standing in front of the sound system with a defiant air.  
  
"Mew, are you sure-" Beat started, but Mew cut him off.  
  
"I'm FINE. I'm not a wimp. Don't think a bit of gore is gonna scare me."  
  
They looked doubtful.  
  
"Fine. Don't believe me. I'm going tagging," Mew said hotly, before turning and skating out the door, slamming it behind her.  
  
~  
  
Benten-cho  
  
~  
  
Mew had been planning upon going back out to Shibuya-cho, but the thought of seeing that dead body again made her turn and head for Benten.  
  
'So hypocritical. Ya say you're okay with seeing a dead body when you refuse to go near it. Maybe I am a wimp.'  
  
She growled to herself and sped up her grind on the railroad tracks, shoving the thought to the back of her mind.  
  
"I'm telling you the truth!! Your friend was killed by a monster!!"  
  
Mew blinked. 'What the-'  
  
"Sure, a monster. And it's standing in front of me!"  
  
"I didn't kill him!! I told you already-"  
  
Mew ran out from underneath the ramp and entered Genkijomae to see two Noise Tanks advancing upon a girl. The girl looked fearful, and was clutching a scythe defensively in front of her.  
  
"LISTEN! I have no reason to kill your friend! It was the-"  
  
"Stop it with the monster story! It's obvious that you're a lunatic with a sharp object who thinks an imaginary monster can cover for her!"  
  
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Mew yelled, racing towards the three Rudies.  
  
"We'll deal with you later!" snarled one of the Noise Tanks. The two dashed away, leaving Mew and the girl. Sighing, the girl pulled the loop of rope on the scythe back over her shoulder, letting the object hang on her back. She turned to look at Mew, only to freeze.  
  
"Miyazaki!?"  
  
Mew was taken aback. "How'd you know-"  
  
The girl suddenly looked furious.  
  
"My Rudie name is Indigo, but you probably remember me as Chloe Sumner," she growled.  
  
"Chloe!? Wh- what're you doing here?!"  
  
Mew suddenly remembered that day clear as ever.  
  
~  
  
Chloe slammed her locker door shut, only to come face to face with blue- eyed, blonde-headed pretty-girl Miyazaki, who wore a smug grin.  
  
"Heya Chloe-kuns. How is my little tomboy underling doing today?"  
  
"Fuck off," Chloe snarled, walking away. Miyazaki followed her, with two girlfriends in tow. She cut around Chloe and stood in front of her, smirking.  
  
"Oh, the kitten bites. I think we can fix that."  
  
The two girls grabbed Chloe's arms. Miyazaki slapped Chloe across the face, hard.  
  
"Bitch," Chloe growled, pulling against the girls' grip. Miyazaki kicked her in the stomach, laughing. Chloe doubled over in pain.  
  
Still giggling, Miyazaki laid a few more kicks in her stomach before catching her in the chest. Tears were now slowly making their way down Chloe's face, but she had long stopped struggling. Suddenly, her head dropped down.  
  
Miyazaki froze. The two girls looked frightened.  
  
"Did we kill her?" One asked fearfully. Suddenly, Chloe's head snapped up again. It was then that they noticed the change. Her hair had turned from coffee-brown to charcoal-black and was now at her shoulders, rather than just above her ears. Her eyes were what scared them the most. They had gone from blue-violet to an evil yellow, just like a cat's.  
  
"You were right about one thing," she said, breaking off into a chuckle before continuing, "the kitten does bite."  
  
Before Miyazaki could even turn to run, the girl had broken free of the two girls and was lunging at her.  
  
~  
  
"You fucking well broke my arm that day," Mew snarled, clenching her fists at her sides.  
  
"One little thing wrong. That wasn't me."  
  
"Oh really? Would that girl be your 'monster'? Maybe you did kill that Noise Tank. Seems likely to me."  
  
"If Scarlet had killed a Noise Tank, I would've known."  
  
Mew snorted in disgust. "So it has a name. Kinda sounds like a pet. What do ya do? Let her loose so she can kill Rudies?"  
  
Indigo glared at her.  
  
"If you must know, I try my hardest NOT to let her out. Besides, what would I have to gain if she killed a few Rudies?"  
  
Mew crossed her arms.  
  
"I dunno. Turf? Maybe you think you'll be famous. But hear this: Stop killing Rudies right now. If you so as harm another Rudie, I'll kill you myself. I'm letting you off. One casualty is enough."  
  
'Wow, did I just say that? I guess I'm not too bad a wimp...'  
  
"Listen, Miyazaki, I haven't killed anyone!! Neither has Scarlet!! I know who killed that Noise Tank and if we don't stop it, then there's no hope. We'll all be dead by the end of the week. If you don't need my help, then I'll go to someone who can use it to stop this."  
  
Indigo turned away and dashed at a billboard, wall rode, and disappeared on the rooftops.  
  
'Maybe she's telling the truth... But, she does seem a very likely candidate. At least that pet alter ego demon thing of hers does. Sounds a lot like something it'd do... I'll watch her. As long as I keep an eye on her, I'll be able to catch her in the act. And if she's innocent, she'll most likely look for the culprit. So, it's a win-win situation. If she's guilty, I'll catch her in the act. If she's innocent, she'll find the culprit and I'll get a look, too. Perfect.'  
  
~ 


	2. An Old Friend

Chapter Two

By Tallulah

(A/N from Tallulah: Hi all!  Hmm…I always seem to end up writing collaborations about evil lurking in dark places…funny that.  Anyway, Indigo is © Mazaki Sora.  Kell is © me.  (Yes, she's back.)  Everyone else is © Sega.  Please r+r!)

Indigo skated slowly through the murky air of night time Shibuya.  The temperature was falling fast.  No hot summer night.  

               Fine.  Indigo didn't let coolness bother her.

               She knew who she had to ask.  Okay, so it tasted sour for a renegade to ask a rival gang for help, but this wasn't a normal situation, this was _serious._

_               Why do you care?_

"Shut up, Scarlet!"    

               _Touchy.  C'mon.  Why do you care?  You ain't got anyone to care about so let it slice up all those bitches and sluts and pretty-girls.  Make the world better._

Indigo gritted her teeth and kept on skating down the road.  Shibuya was pretty empty once it got dark; everyone either went home or headed off to Benten.  Normally she liked the quiet, but tonight it was bad, because tonight she could hear Scarlet.

               _Slice up…kill 'em good…lots of blood, come on, Indigo-chan, I like blood, huh…what do you say?_

Don't answer, Indigo told herself.  Answering only makes it worse.  

               Maybe she should turn Jet Set Radio back on…she'd got it off because it was making her too jumpy.  Every second she was expecting to hear _that _song; and once she heard it she'd know there was nothing she could do – someone would die –

               _What about Miyazaki?  Huh?  You **hate** Miyazaki, don't pretend you don't._

"I –"

               _I hate Miyazaki.  I sat in your mind and watched her all that time and I couldn't do anything.  Don't stop the monster, Indigo, Miyazaki deserves all she gets.  All her friends dying is good, her dying is even better!_

"Shut up!"

               _Don't you remember?  She used to trip you up in the lunch hall.  She used to write notes about you and pass them round behind your back.  She told everyone you smelt and you didn't wash.  She's a poisonous little bitch, there's no good in her at all and if you'd just let me hurt her – but you won't – so why not let someone else?_

Indigo began to dash.

By the time she reached the Love Shocker HQ, Scarlet's voice had been drowned out by the rush of air in her ears and the growl of her skates on the tarmac.  Fine.  Good.  That was the way she liked it.  Because maybe she hated Miyazaki, but Scarlet was wrong, wrong, damn wrong.

               Wasn't she?

               Indigo gritted her teeth, tried to forget about Scarlet for a bit, and rapped on the peeling door of the HQ.  The knocking echoed up over its flat concrete surface and through the long-ago shattered windows.  It was really cold now, and the air scratched her fingers.  

               The door swung open, and a Love Shocker stared out.  "What?  What do you want, noob?"

               Indigo let the insult pass, and said, "I want to see Kell."

               The girl frowned.  "Why?"

               "I need to talk to her."

               "Why?  Who are you?"

               "It's about the Noise Tank that got killed this morning."

               The Shocker eyed the scythe slung on Indigo's back, and gulped.  "You –"

               "No, I didn't do it.  But I know who did.  So I got to talk to Kell."

               The Love Shocker swallowed, and then quickly shoved the door open wider, letting Indigo inside.

Mew tiptoed through Shibuya.  It was freezing out here.  Man, why did Indigo want to come out now?  She herself would much rather have been in Benten.  It seemed…warmer somehow in Benten.  Maybe it was all the lights.         

               And it was darker in Shibuya.  The shadows were _bad.  _Too black.  And there weren't any people or anything.  Mew liked having people around.  You could rush through them and send them scattering and it was fun –

               And if they weren't around, there might be a monster lurking instead…

               She shivered.

               No, she told herself.  Don't be silly.  Indigo came down here and she's okay.

               But maybe Indigo is the monster…

               Oh, I wanna go home…the Garage would be warm, and friendly, and the others would be nice to her –

               Sure they would.  Because they'd know Mew was such a little baby she was scared to go out at night.

               Mew scowled, and stood straighter, and then scurried down the side street Indigo had taken.

"So why _did _you want to see me, Chloe?"

               "Quit calling me that, _Kellaani."_

The Love Shocker leader shrugged.  "Okay.  Indigo, right?  What do you want?  We've never exactly been friends."  
               "Yeah, but I saw what you were like at school.  You were tough."

               "So?  You weren't exactly nice.  I heard you broke that bitch Miyazaki's arm."  Kell smirked.  Red light burned on her face from the flickering bar sign opposite, and turned her black hair to dark, dark crimson.

               "That –"  Indigo sighed.  No need to complicate matters here.  "Whatever.  The point is, I know what's killed those rudies, and no one else will listen.  I thought you might."  
               Kell rolled her eyes.  "Okay.  Who?  Some rudie?  A psycho cop?  Onishima cos someone spilt his coffee?  Get to the point.  Shar will be back with the Chinese food soon, and I'm hungry.  Which of them was it?"

               "None of them."

               "Well, who?"

               "A – a monster."

               Kell snorted.  "Oh, _please.  Indigo, I'm not in the mood for all this dramatic shit –"_

               "Just shut up and listen!" Indigo yelled before she could think.  "I'm not joking!  It's a monster, a voodoo curse.  My father told me about it."

               She took a deep breath, and remembered hot, dark nights, the smell of dust rippling slowly across the bare floor…her father sitting on the bed next to her…the delicious shiver in her stomach as he told those spooky stories.  When he did, the night seemed even hotter, blood-red-hotter, and she'd lie awake afterwards, listening to the creaks of the house.  A different world at night…the house had seemed bigger, darker, the corridors endless, the steps downstairs like the path into a cave, the windows places to hide from because they watched you.  

               She'd loved that world because she knew she could walk with the beasts in it and ignore horrible people like Miyazaki.

               But she was older now; and now she knew the beasts were no better; now she'd seen what they could really do; now she knew those old stories weren't stories at all.  That old, dark, red world had burst into the sunlight of the present, and somehow she had to blot it out again.

               "Your daddy told you?"  Kell sneered.  "Indigo, I hate to say this, but has it ever occurred to you you're just being dumb?  How'd your dad know about that sort of shit?"

               "My dad grew up in Africa.  That's –"             

               Suddenly there was a loud crash from outside Kell's room.  Both girls jumped.  Kell muttered under her breath, and walked over to the door to peer out into the main hall of the building.

Mew had recognized the building as the Love Shocker HQ, and then had known she _really _wanted to run home.  It wasn't that she was scared of the Love Shockers, who were a pathetic gang who had, like, no turf left at all…but it was dark…and their leader was reported to be kind of mean…               

               But again, she wasn't going to let the other GGs laugh at her.  And besides, if Indigo had gone in here, she had to be plotting something, she was a renegade, she had no business with the Love Shockers…and so it was Mew's duty to find out what was going on!

               But she couldn't just walk forward and knock on the door.  Sighing, she crept round to one of the dusty windows, and climbed up onto the sill, and rubbed a patch in the dust to see.  Grey clots clung to her sleeve, and she scowled.  

               She was peering into a large, empty hall.  Everything was grey, except for the long red shadows cast by the sign across the floor. 

               She clicked off Jet Set Radio, and pressed her ear to the glass, trying to hear anything, but no luck.  Faint muffled voices far away, but nothing she could make out.

               This was freaky.  She didn't know why, but suddenly she was scared.  The air was too cold, and the night was dark, and somewhere out there was something horrible…

               Or maybe it wasn't _out there.  _Maybe it was in this building – that must be how Indigo knew – maybe it was watching her right now…

               You could never tell, with people, could you?  Mew remembered Indigo's eyes turning cat-like.  They'd looked wrong in her face, like drops of acid.  

               _The kitten does bite…_

_               Did we kill her?_

It had just been a bit of fun!  It had just been that Chloe was such a snotty, ugly cow – and Miyazaki had hated girls who acted like they were _it – _and Chloe always lost her temper and it was fun – and no one else had ever believed Miyazaki could do anything, her mum was always telling her how pathetic she was – 

               _It wasn't my fault…_

Mew shuddered.  Stupid Indigo.  She didn't want to think about that sort of stuff any more.  She'd never dared hurt someone since.  You never quite knew what you were risking…you never knew what could happen…

               But the _thing that had murdered the Noise Tank this morning, that hadn't been scared._

               Someone crazy.  

               She wanted to find them – she wanted to find them and stop them and stop being scared –

               Suddenly the window creaked beneath her.  She jumped – it tilted forward – her skates shot off the windowsill, and she fell through it, and landed heavily on the concrete ground.

               Groaning and spitting out dust, she sat up, rubbing the bruises forming on her chest and arms, and sighed as three Love Shockers skated over to her.

               "Who the hell are you?" one of them demanded.

               "I know her.  It's that Mew girl from the GGs."

               "Oh, great.  Can't we even keep our HQ now?"

               "It's on our turf," Mew snapped, glaring up at them.

               "Get out before we ten-tag you, bitch."

               "What's going on?" 

               The three girls turned as another Love Shocker, this one with coffee-coloured skin, skated towards them, closely followed by Indigo.

               "It's one of the GGs.  Trespassing."

               Indigo glowered.  "What are you doing here?"

               "Errr…nothing!"  Mew smiled weakly.  "Rudie stuff…you know…"

               "You were following me, weren't you?" Indigo snarled.  "Listen, Miyazaki, keep your nose out of my life – I didn't kill those rudies –"

               "Says you," Mew snapped.  

               "Yeah, says me!"

               "You're the only one who's psychotic and you have a scythe!  It's blatantly obvious!"

               "Really?" Indigo growled, marching towards Mew, her skates leaping in and out of the red shadows.  "Well, you're the one who's a two-faced bully.  You like to pretend you're _so _sweet and _so innocent, but you're not, I ought to know _that – _when it comes down to it you're just as bad as Scarlet – just as bad as this monster –"  She stopped, and blinked, and then gritted her teeth.  "Shit…"_

               "What?" Kell asked.  "You okay?"

               "No.  No, I'm not.  Thanks a fucking bunch, Miyazaki, as soon as you come back into my life my head goes crazy –"

               "Ooh, are you going to hack us to death now?" Mew said, trying not to let her voice tremble.

               "Fuck _off – I got to get out of here – I –"_

               She turned and ran out of the warehouse, slamming the door behind her.

               "Well, now what?" one of the Love Shockers said.  "Are we gonna ten-tag this bitch or what?"

               "No.  Let her go."  Kell scowled.  "She ain't the monster, that's for sure.  Listen, pussy cat.  Get the hell out of here, and if you ever come back, I'll tag you so many times you'll get paint poisoning.  Get it?"

               Mew rolled her eyes.

               Kell glowered, grabbed the front of Mew's dress, and pulled her up to face level.  "Listen.  I remember you when you were at school.  You were a little cow, but you were all talk and if anyone ever fought back, you crumbled.  Remember that, _Miyazaki.  _You ain't a tough girl and you never will be.  Now get your sorry ass out of my HQ."

               Mew got her feet, biting her lip to try not to cry, and stumbled towards the door.  Her hand was stinging, and she noticed there was a thin cut running down it.  Probably from her fall.  Rubbing the dark redness off her skin, she reached the door, and stepped out into the silent night.                  

               "Indigo?" she called.  "You out here?"

               Silence.  Good.  Mew shrugged, and began to skate away from the HQ, back down to central Shibuya, and to the Garage.  She'd stop following Indigo tonight.  She was tired; she wanted to have a hot shower and some pizza and then curl up and listen to music.  

               Huh?  That was odd – there was a puddle on the ground.  Funny, it hadn't rained for ages –

               And then she saw – 

               A slumped, twisted, broken figure, dropped in blood, sprawled across the pavement; and the containers of Chinese food she had been carrying had been dropped, and rice and pieces of chicken were scattered around her like maggots.

Get away, Scarlet!

               _Make me – let me out –_

Don't you dare –

               The world blurred in front of Indigo's eyes – she wanted to black out, oh _man she wanted to black out – fall into the dark and let Scarlet take care of things – the pavement in front of her jumped in – jumped out – for a few moments she was completely in the dark – then she shoved Scarlet away and dashed back into the real world, just in time to hear the screams._

               "Oh, no…"

               She rushed down the pavement, and saw Mew, standing with a dead body at her feet, screaming her head off.  

               "Mew!  Miyazaki!  Kitten!" she yelled.  "Calm down!"

               Mew stared at her with eyes like a terrified baby's.  "She's dead…"

               "No duh."

               Indigo bit her lip.  That was Scarlet.

               "Calm down," she said.  "Who – who is it?"

               "A – a Love Shocker – look at the hair –"

               "Must've been that one Kell mentioned," Indigo said.  "Shar…"

               "Did you ask her her name before you killed her?" Mew yelled.  "Huh?  Did you?  Go on, admit it, did you?"

               "Don't be so dumb!  Maybe it was you!"     

               "Oh, yeah?  What did I do it with?  My hair clips?"

               "Look at my scythe."  Indigo snatched it off her back and waved it at Mew, who yelped and scampered back.  "See?  It's clean.  No blood.  So I didn't do it."

               "Like – you could have washed it –"

               "Mew, it's been like five minutes since I left the HQ, and the only water around is Kogane River.  There's no way I could have done it."

               Mew stared at her, disgust in her face.  "I don't believe you."

               She and Indigo stood facing each other across the girl's body.


	3. Shut Up and RUN!

Chapter Three

By Mazaki Sora

(A/N from Mazaki Sora: Hey peeps, I hope you're enjoying our story so far ^_^ Okay, lessee… Indigo and Scarlet are © me, Kell is © Tallulah, and anyone from the game is © Sega. R + R please! ^.^)

~

"Tab, what's with you?"

Tab jumped and tore his eyes from the street outside the window to look at Gum. She skated up beside him and leaned on the windowsill.

"Mew went out about an hour ago and she hasn't come back. What if she got killed or somethin'?"

Gum snorted in amusement. "Don't tell me you really think there's some psycho out there who's hell-bent on killing Rudies. It was probably some sick joke, or some part of an initiation. Maybe the Noise Tanks were having some sort of civil war and decided to overthrow their leader, or one of the members."

"I know, but-"

"_Or_, the Love Shockers finally decided to go with their 'kill all men' rep. That Noise Tank was a guy, remember? And don't forget the Poison Jammers. They're stupid enough to think it's okay to reenact their favorite horror movies. _See,_ there are plenty of reasons. If it's just the Noise Tanks, they won't dare touch Mew. If it's the Love Shockers, they would leave her alone 'cuz she's a girl. If it's the Poison Jammers, well, she's smart enough to get away from them. And if by some freaked reason it's the cops, I think Mew's handled with the Keisatsu plenty of times to know how to avoid being butchered. So _don't worry_."

"I hope you're right Gum. I really hope you're right."

~

"I don't believe you."

"Miyazaki, you're being an airhead!! If you took five seconds to think about it, you'd see how wildly mistaken you are! It doesn't add up! I didn't have enough time to slaughter a Rudie, run off to clean my scythe, and run back! I've only been away from the HQ for what, five minutes? It would take longer than five minutes to even kill someone like this! **You're accusing the wrong person!**"

Mew clenched her fists at her sides and growled.

"Well, I still think you did it! You might've found a way, or maybe you've got an accomplice! Who is it, huh? Or, you killed her _before_ you came to the Love Shocker headquarters!"

"Don't be stupid! I know you were following me, so you would've seen me kill her! Face it; **you've** **got no proof!** And why the hell would I have a fucking _accomplice_!? What Rudie out there would want to help kill other Rudies?!"

Mew narrowed her eyes and glared hatefully at Indigo.

"You killed that Noise Tank and you killed this Love Shocker. I **know** you did. You always had a bad temper back in school and you always liked being violent. I guess you're using the Rudies here to vent your hatred out on. If you're not killing them, then this 'Scarlet' is. And you're letting her because you _enjoy_ watching her slaughter people. It makes you feel like you're on the top of the food chain; you know, the biggest and the baddest. And you're trying to get off scot-free by telling some bullshit story about some voodoo curse monster thing that likes killing people. Sure, people are gonna believe that. I don't, those two Noise Tanks didn't, and I have a feeling Kell didn't either. Face it, you're gonna get caught and there ain't no story that's gonna save your ass. I'm on to you, and pretty soon, everyone else will be too."

Indigo laughed slightly and threw a clump of electric blue hair away from her face.

"Think what you will Miyazaki-chan, but you're off by a major mile. I know once I show Kell what **it** has done to one of her Love Shockers, she'll believe me. **I don't kill family.**"

Mew blinked.

"Wha-?"

"I used to be a Love Shocker myself. She knows I hate their guts now, but she also knows that I'd never harm my old friends. Even if I'm not their friend now, I still uphold the Love Shocker code of honor. Corny I know, but I still follow what I was told: even once a Love Shocker has quit, they must stay true to their background and never harm or hurt another Love Shocker. I'm not so low as to kill one of my old friends."

"No wonder you're psycho. A Love Shocker? Man, that's the lowest a Rudie can go," Mew said, smirking slightly.

Indigo scowled.

"I said I **used** to be one. I thought that their motives were evil and I left, but I'm not so low as to betray them just because I've left. And that includes killing one."

"You _say_ you still uphold the code, but I think you're lying. You probably wouldn't give a fuck if it had been a Love Shocker or a Poison Jam for that matter! I know you and I wouldn't put it past you to kill any living thing that crosses your path! You killed that Noise Tank and this Love Shocker!"

"Which brings us back to where we started! **I didn't have time to kill her!** Get it through your thick skull!!"

Mew had, by now, completely forgotten about the slaughtered body between them and seemed unusually calm compared to the screaming wreck she had been a minute ago. Suddenly, she broke into a smirk.

"If you were a Love Shocker, then you know about how mean Kell can get. I have a feeling she'll take care of you after she sees you've killed one of her girls. Sure, you say she'll believe you, but I know how hard it is to comprehend a situation when you're angry. I can already see it happening. Kell will get angry and instantly assume you killed her Love Shocker. You can guess what'll happen after that."

Indigo snorted in disgust.

"You said it right there; I was a Love Shocker, so I know Kell a **lot** better than you. She'll believe me."

"Sure she will," Mew laughed slightly before turning away. She paused and threw over her shoulder, "You're dead-meat."

She let out a loud laugh before disappearing down the street. Indigo scowled before looking back down upon Shar's mutilated body.

"Yep, she'll believe me. Ain't no way I could've done that with a scythe."

~

Kell drummed her fingers on the windowsill, watching the darkened street.

_Dammit, where's Shar? She was **supposed **to be here ages ago…Ugh, where's the damn food!?_

"Hey Kell, see Shar yet!?" rang out one of the Love Shockers' voices from down the hall.

"No!" she snapped back. She turned back to the window and continued tapping her fingernails on the sill, waiting for the flash of pink and black that was Shar to come up the road with their food. Five seconds later, Kell's patience was gone. She skated out of her room, slammed the door, and made for the exit.

"Hey Kell! Where are ya going?"

"I'm gonna find Shar! Just go back to whatever the hell you were doing!"

Kell slammed the HQ door behind her and took off down the street.

Jesus it's cold out here… I thought it was supposed to be freakin' summer! Feels more like winter to me… 

She scowled to herself and sped up, the sound of her skates scratching across the pavement reverberating around the suddenly empty streets.

Don't want to be outside when there's a monster loose… 

Kell snorted in disgust to no one in particular.

_Weird shit happens, but this is just **too **weird, even for Tokyo-to standards.  Sounds like a load of bullshit to me. Also sounds like Chloe's either been smoking something weird or she's pulling some stunt just to get some attention._

Kell shoved the thought in the back of her mind, for she wasn't out in Shibuya-cho, in the middle of the night to figure out why a former Love Shocker came up to her with some bullshit story about a monster killing Rudies because she wanted their help. 

"Shar!? Hey Shar, you out there!?"

No answer. Kell stopped and cupped her hands to her mouth.

"**Yo Shar!! The other Love Shockers are getting hungry!! You out there!?**"

She dropped her arms to her sides and waited a few seconds. She half expected to hear Shar yell back, or appear behind her carrying their food and scare the shit out of her. When neither happened, Kell scowled to herself and took off again.

She's probably either still waiting for our food to get done, is already back at the HQ by now, or – or – something else. 

Kell shuddered slightly at the 'something else'. She didn't like the sound of it, because it covered a variety of things. Things that she really didn't want to think about right now.

"Shar! Get ya ass out here before I make it come out here!"

A faint voice, probably very far away, floated up to her.

"Kell? Is that you?"

"Who's there!?" Kell called back.

"It's Indigo. Get over here; there's something you need to see."

Hiking an eyebrow, Kell dashed forward until she could see two shadowed figures ahead of her. One was standing, the other laying in a heap at its feet. As she got closer, she could make out Indigo standing over someone.

Kell skidded to a halt in front of Indigo, spattering a thin layer of dirt on her skates.

"Yea? I'm a little busy right now; I got a Love Shock-"

"Look." She pointed downwards, at the figure on the ground. Kell scowled and looked down. But the look soon melted into a thin layer of disgust, which soon turned into a look of pure and utter shock.

"Sh – Shar!?"

She looked between Shar's body and Indigo sharply, looking extremely pale. 

"When – what – who –" she stammered, backing away slightly. She stopped backing away and looked at Indigo. Her expression flickered between shock, hurt, and accusation. 

"You didn't – did you!?"

Indigo looked down upon the mutilated body darkly.

"No, I didn't. Remember, I don't kill friends. Now, do you believe that there's a monster killing Rudies?"

Kell seemed to have gotten her feelings under control and answered in a deadly calm voice that sent a shiver up Indigo's spine.

"And what proof is there that you didn't do it?"

Indigo looked taken aback.

"I didn't do it! Listen, Mew and I found her five minutes after I left the HQ. That would've given me five minutes to kill her, run off and clean my scythe, and run back to confront Mew. There's simply not enough time for me to do something like that. You've gotta believe me!"

Kell averted her gaze from Shar's body and stared Indigo in the eyes.

"I'm not sure whom or what I should believe. You're right about the time thing, but for all I know, you could be lying. You left the HQ exactly fifteen minutes ago. It's hard to believe that you've been sitting here for ten minutes, waiting for me to show up. For all I know, you could've killed her when you left, cleaned your weapon, and gotten back just a few minutes ago."

Indigo growled slightly.

"Listen, you can go ask Mew if you want and she will tell you exactly what I said, despite the fact that she seems to think that I killed Shar even though I didn't have enough time to do something like that."

It was silent for several seconds. Kell and Indigo stared each other down defiantly, both unblinking. 

CRASH 

Indigo jumped slightly, blinked, and turned her head towards the sound. Kell looked reluctantly towards the source.

The sound was revealed to be several dustbins that had toppled over in an adjacent alley, crashing to the ground and spilling trash and the sorts everywhere. The break in their conversation hadn't ended, however. A dark shadow shifted in the mess and began moving towards the exit, towards the two girls.

"Who's there!? What do you want!?" Kell shouted indignantly.

The figure paid her inquiries no attention and continued forward, slinking closer. Instinctively, Indigo began backing away. Kell saw her out of the corner of her eye and snapped, "Don't be a wimp! It's probably just a bum."

Indigo shot a glare at her, but pulled out her scythe all the same. 

"Come any closer or I'll-"

She was cut off by laughing. It was more of an amused chuckle, however, and was low and ominous. 

"What's so funny asshole?" Kell snarled.

Once again, it ignored her and continued laughing. 

"What fun…" 

Obviously, the voice had come from the figure. But it definitely didn't sound human. It was low and raspy, and Indigo shuddered despite herself. 

The figure emerged from the alley. It had the stature of an extremely tall man, but even in the darkness of midnight, Indigo knew right away that **this wasn't a man**.

"K – Kell… It's him – It's the monster!" Indigo whispered to Kell, her voice trembling in terror. Kell snorted slightly and waved a hand nonchalantly.

"Listen dude, if you're looking for cash or something, go hit up on someone who actually has a house. What makes you think a couple of Rudies have money on them?" 

It continued towards them. Indigo could hear its breath, shallow and threatening. 

"Kell, we need to get out of here-"

"Stop being such a drama- AH!" Kell jumped back as the figure lashed out at her with claws four inches long. Indigo shrieked and began dashing away, followed by Kell.

"So do you believe me **now**!?" Indigo yelled over her shoulder as they raced down the street.

"Shut up and **RUN **bitch!"

Kell overtook Indigo and passed her. Indigo chanced a glance behind her and saw the monster bounding after them, on all fours. Gritting her teeth, she skidded to a stop and turned to face the oncoming figure.

"Indigo what're you-" Kell began as she skidded to a halt several feet ahead, but was cut off as Indigo yelled.

"**Take this bitch!**" she shrieked, ramming her scythe at the monster as it leapt at her. Thick, warm liquid spattered her arms as her scythe pierced its stomach. 

With a pain-filled roar, the monster swiped at Indigo. Kell watched in terror as Indigo fell over, jerking her scythe from the monster's abdomen. As Kell raced towards the two, the monster turned tail and bounded away, yelping slightly.

"Indigo!" She skidded to a halt next to the girl and fell to her knees. Indigo was lying on her side, her blood coated scythe laying a few feet away. Quickly, Kell pulled her over on her back and jumped away. Indigo was awake, and laughed slightly.

"I got him good, didn't I?"

"He got you good, too…" Kell muttered under her breath. Indigo looked at her quizzically. Slowly, Kell pointed a finger at Indigo's chest area.

Three long red gashes were set across her chest, each one letting loose rivulets of dark crimson blood that were turned black by the moonlight. Indigo gaped for a few seconds.

"Is this bad?" she asked, looking up at Kell.

Kell nodded.

"Then how come I can't feel it?"

Kell shrugged.

"I think I'll pass out now…" 

~


	4. You Drive Me Crazy

Chapter Four

By Tallulah

(Aloha, mes amies!  (Ooh, language mix.)  Hi.  Indigo and Scarlet are © Sora, Kell and Jay are © me, everyone else is © Sega, and the lyrics Scarlet sings are a mangled version of Britney Spears' 'Crazy' and therefore © whoever wrote that.  Please r+r!)

Tab heard the garage door open, and leapt round.  "Mew!"

               The other GG stumbled inside, and gave everyone a fake grin.  "Hi, guys…"

               "Are you okay?" Tab said.  "You didn't – uh – nothing – uh – well, are you?"  He didn't want to tell her all the terrified thoughts he'd been having.  No need to look like a prat.

               "Huh?  Oh, sure, I'm fine."  Mew scowled.  "Not everyone is, though."

               "What do you mean?" Beat said from the sofa.  "Don't tell me –"

               "Yup.  A Love Shocker got killed tonight.  It was _not _pretty."

               "Same way as the Noise Tank?" 

               Mew nodded.

               "Shit," Tab said, suddenly growing cold at the thought of Mew being out there – at the same time as that – _thing – _that had killed the others… "I guess that puts the kibosh on your Love Shocker theory, Gum."

               Gum shrugged and rolled her eyes at him.  "I s'pose you didn't see who did it?" she asked Mew.

               "Oh, yeah, I did.  Definitely."

               "What?  Who?"

               "You know that weird renegade, Indigo?"

               "No," the GGs said.

               Mew sighed.  "She carries a scythe on her back and has electric-blue hair.  She did it.  She says she didn't, but I _know it was her.  I'm positive."_

               "Why?" Beat said.

               "Because she's crazy," Mew said.  "She was at the scene of the crime, and she's crazy."

               She stared round at them all, fists clenched, eyes dark in the shadows.  

               "She's crazy," she said again.  

               Then she crept over to the skylight up to the garage roof, and wriggled through it, and slammed it shut behind her.

The city was beautiful at night.  A million hot orange lights danced in Mew's eyes, and she breathed in the smells of take-away and perfume and dry ice and river damp, and drew her knees into her chest, and curled up in the centre of it all.

               Tried to relax.

               But how could she relax, when, under the city, the night was so dark, and Indigo could hide in it?

               _Because she knows you know…she might come after you now…_

Mew gave a little squeak,, and glanced over her shoulder.  Of course, there was no one there.  Just the roof, stretching out behind her, tanned orange in the street lights.  

               Anyway, she'd fought Indigo before.  She knew Indigo.  Indigo – no, _Chloe – was nothing.  Chloe got upset so easily.  _

               Scarlet – yes, Scarlet – didn't.  

               Mew remembered the girl's hands slamming her back against the lockers – fingers, long-nailed, digging into her wrist, twisting her arm – twisting – and the pain rising, rising – and Scarlet's mouth tearing into a smile – and those cat eyes – those nasty yellow eyes –

               Oh, _shit.  If it was Scarlet who was doing this (of course it was) then what on earth could anyone do?  Scarlet was crazy.  Scarlet would walk over burning broken glass to hurt someone._

               Mew saw Indigo's bare, shiny scythe, as if it cut through the sky in front of her eyes. 

               _There's simply not enough time…_

But it _had to be Indigo.  Scarlet.  Chloe.  It had to be.  Who believed in monsters any more?_

               Chloe was a bitch.  It wasn't surprising she'd done something like this.

               Who else could it be?

               The skylight creaked, and Mew yelped.

               "Hey, kitten.  Sorry to make you jump."

               "Oh.  Tab."

               Tab shrugged, heaved himself out onto the roof, and slid across to sit next to Mew.  "Yup.  Just me.  I fancied some fresh air without actually having to make any effort."

               Mew grinned, wishing she could be as relaxed as he seemed.  "I see your point."

               "Also, I had another motive."

               "Oh, yeah?"

               "I could come out here and check you were okay without actually making it obvious and wrecking my male pride or implying you're a girl who can't cope."  Tab grinned at her.  "So, are you okay?"

               _"Am I a girl who can't cope?" Mew snapped._

               "No.  Actually, you seem to be coping really well for someone who's seen two dead bodies in one day."

               Mew shrugged.  "It gets old after a while."

               They stared out at the thick orange lights for a few moments, before Tab said, "Was it really that Indigo chick who did it?"

               "Yes."  The word had too many corners, and stuck in Mew's throat.

               "Why?"

               "Because she's crazy, like I said."

               "I seen her around a few times.  She don't look crazy."

               "What would _you _know?"

               "Sorry."  Tab glanced back at the lights.  Mew wished there were more of them.  The night was still too wide, and too dark.  

                 She could tell Tab everything – that she'd known Indigo before, before rudie life – that she'd been mean to her – that Indigo herself wasn't mad, but that something else in her was – she could tell everything – and then someone else could help her deal with it –

               But then Tab would hate her, because he'd know what a bitch she really was.  No, no she wasn't a bitch – she _wasn't – but he'd think she was – and she didn't want him to – she liked Tab –_

               "It's all right," she said, smiling painfully again.  "Don't worry.  I'll be fine.  We got to be careful, that's all.  Stick together."

               "Sounds good to me."

               Tab moved a little closer to her, and she moved closer to him.  She was glad.  She was too cold, and he was warm.  And when you were with someone else, maybe you could forget for a bit.

               But not forever.

Indigo lay in a hospital bed.  The ward was very dark.

               Her wounds had been stitched; they lurked under her pyjama top, three dark paths across her skin.  She was asleep, but she moved as if she was struggling to breathe.  One hand kept grasping for the scythe, and her lips pattered as she spoke silent words.

               Inside her head, Scarlet was showing her pictures.

Indigo saw herself running out down the street, away from the Love Shocker HQ.  Everything was red as if it was being seen through a filter or stained-glass window.  Her head ached.

               No.  Everything was _scarlet._

_               See you run.  _

The dream-Indigo stopped, shaking her head, her lips moving.  Fighting Scarlet.  Yes, she remembered that.

               _See you struggle._

Dream-Indigo froze suddenly – and then her head dropped.

               _See you LOSE._

Dream-Indigo looked up, and stared into the real Indigo's eyes.  

               Cat eyes and thick, tangled black hair.  

               _See me have fun._

Dream-Scarlet grabbed the scythe, and whirled it round her head, and charged towards the Love Shocker walking up the hill –

               Indigo awoke.

               "It didn't happen that way," she said at last, whispering through the thick breathing of the other patients.

               _Did so._

"No, it didn't!  That girl wasn't killed by a scythe, and then I saw the monster!"

               _Did you?  Or maybe you're crazy and you dreamed it._

"Kell saw it."

               _Dreamed that, too._

"Why don't you shut up?"  Indigo sat up a little.  Slumped heaps showed her that everyone else on the ward was able to sleep.  Doors rattled far away though, and outside the trees hissed and twitched.  

               She wasn't scared of the dark.

               She was just scared of monsters with four-inch claws.

               _And me._

No.  Not you.

               _Yes, me.  I'm trying to make you crazy.  Then I can come out and play for a bit._

Why don't you just piss off and die?

               _I'm you.  _

You aren't.

               _I am.  I do what you always wanted but never had the guts for._

I don't want to do what you do.

               _Yes you do.  You just pretend you don't.  So you're just as crazy as the monster is…you're crazy…crazy…_

Scarlet started to sing, quietly, so quietly Indigo wasn't sure whether it was Scarlet or just her own mind.

               _I drive you crazy…you just can't sleep…you know you killed them and you're in too deep…o-oh, crazy, and it feels so right…baby, keep it up, just kill 'em all tonight…_

"You are so immature," Indigo muttered, and lay down and curled up under the covers again.

               After she'd checked on either side of her bed for anything lurking in the shadows.

               Scarlet kept singing.

               "A monster."

               "Yeah."  Kell nodded, rubbed her still-sweating hands on her Love Shocker tank top, and scowled.

               "Shar is dead, and she was killed by a monster."  Jay walked slowly across to the window and stared out at the dark, empty street.  The room was full of thick black now that the red bar sign had been turned off; the only light was from a faint, clouded moon.

               "Yeah."

               "Shut up."

               "Jay, I know it sounds crazy, but –"

               "You're damn right it sounds crazy!  How could you do this to Shar?  If she's dead – oh, man, if she's dead – you got no right to fuck around with our heads by playing games about it!  I thought you knew that Indigo girl was lying!"

               "I thought she was, until this freaky thing with four-inch claws tried to murder me!  Now Indigo's in Shibuya General Hospital with her chest slashed open.  Go take a look if you want –"

               "You stupid cow, I don't _care _that she's been hurt, Shar's been _killed!  _The point is I want to know what did it, and all you can do is talk stupid about some monster – listen, Kell, monsters aren't real!  Barney, the troll under the bridge, the bogeyman, they're things you make up for little kids!"

               "This one is damn well real."

               "Shut up."  Jay glowered at her.  "I'm going out.  Maybe you'd better think up another excuse for the other girls."

               "Where are they?"

               "Asleep.  Because if you tell them this monster shit, then maybe they'll start thinking you had something to do with Shar…"

               "Look, I'm your damn leader!  I don't kill my own rudies!"

               "You've killed people in the past."  

               Kell glowered at her.  "That was different.  That had motive.  This doesn't.  You know that."

               "Do I?  Maybe you had some weird grudge against Shar!"

               "Shut up!  You're being dumb!"

               "No, _you're being dumb."  Jay scowled at her._

               "All right, fine, I'm being dumb."  Kell scowled.  "Just listen, okay?  Don't go out on your own.  Tell the others when they wake up.  Go in pairs at _least.  And take something to fight with.  Even if you don't believe it's a monster, you got to see it's _something."__

"Yeah.  I'd just like to know what."  Jay scowled, and marched away.

               Kell sighed, and slumped down in the chair next to the window, and pressed her forehead against the dusty glass.

               _Please let it be dead…_

_               Please let it have gone away…_

She didn't want something like that to be real.  Those claws, like thin, curved pieces of wire, black, clotted with blood…

               Something had to be done.

               Someone had to believe her.

The next morning.  It was another hot day; the air was thick and murky with heat.  Mew yawned and opened her eyes, and suddenly there was a loud bang on the garage door.

               "Uh?  Who is it?"  She glanced round the garage, counting the GGs.  All ten were there.  "Who's there?"

               "Kell.  From the Love Shockers?"

               "If you're trying to take our HQ –"

               "Mew?  No, I ain't trying to take your HQ.  I want to talk to your leader."

               "About the _monster?"_

"Yes."

               "We didn't have anything to do with it –"

               "Oh, just get him."

               Mew walked over to Beat, shook him awake, explained the situation, and then hurried over to her place on the sound system.  Man, what was it with everyone these days?  Why couldn't they see the truth in front of their eyes?

               "What do you want?" Beat said, opening the front door slightly.

               "Can I come in?"

               "No."  

               "Fine.  All right.  Last night one of my gang was killed by the same thing that killed the Noise Tank."

               "Oh, yeah.  That Indigo girl, right?"

               _"No!"  Kell sounded like she was snarling.  "It's something else, with horrible long claws, and it attacked Indigo and me, and she's in hospital.  I __saw it.  It's not Indigo, it's a – a monster, like she said."_

               "Is this some kind of Love Shocker April Fool thing?" Beat said patiently.  "Because it's kind of not funny –"

               "You stupid bug-eyed freak, _one of my gang is dead!  _Why would I joke around like this?  If it _had been Indigo I'd have kicked her ass from here to Grind City, but it's not.  It's something else.  I thought you might like to __know, seeing as it's attacking rudies left right and centre.  Now I'm off."_

               "Okay, okay.  Any tips on fighting this, uh, monster?"

               "Carry a scythe and be able to run fast," Kell said.

               "I'm serious."

               "So am I!  I wouldn't go out alone.  I'd be pretty nervous about going out in pairs, if you want the truth."

               "Right.  Fine.  Good_bye."_

Mew heard Kell skate away.  Beat shut the door, and called to the dozy GGs in the garage, "Did you all hear that?  Hey, guys, hello?"

               "We heard _that," _Gum moaned, wincing.

               "Listen.  I don't know if what's out there _is a monster, but it's something and it seems pretty dangerous.  So no one is to go out alone.  No one is to go down any dark alleyways.  No one is to do anything stupid, okay?  And carrying a weapon of some sort might be a good idea."_

               "Yay, something else for Onishima to arrest us for," Cube murmured.  "I'll go get a bread knife."

               "Ah, come on," Gum said.  "I don't think it's gonna be _that _serious.  I mean, rudies are killed all the time, right?"

               "Two in one day?" Garam said.  "Hate to say so, babe, but it don't look good to me."

               "Oh, let's stop talking about it."  Mew leapt to her feet.  "Let's get out and tag the streets rather than sit here worrying about them!"

               Of course it was Indigo who'd done it.  Kell was just on her side because they were both Love Shockers.  

               Yeah.  Of course it was Indigo.

               And Scarlet.

               Of course.

               And as long as she kept away from that freaky bitch, she'd be perfectly safe.

               Of course.

Outside the streets seemed quieter in the heat.  Mew fiddled with the collar of her dress, which was damp with sweat, and wished she hadn't worn her stockings today.  But she'd had to, because pinned into the top of one of them was a small flick knife.

               She wasn't too happy about it, and she was _really _not wanting to do any energetic tricks, just in case the blade shot out and cut a major artery and she died…

               "Man, I'm glad _I _don't have a knife where you do," Yo-Yo said, snickering, as they skated through Shibuya bus terminal.

               "Maybe you could do with one," Mew snapped.  "Then you'd stop hitting on me all the time!"

               "Mew baby, I am not hitting on you!"  Yo-Yo grinned.  "I'm just hoping you'll come to your senses and realise my desirability.  In the meantime I'm happy just to be your friend…"  He tilted his sunglasses down his nose and gave her a puppy-dog eyes look.

               "Shut _up."  Normally Mew put up with Yo-Yo's banter, but she was feeling way too edgy today.  "Anyway, why don't you have a weapon somewhere?"_

               "I'm fast enough to get away from anything," Yo-Yo said.  "I don't need to worry."

               They both grinded down the banisters into the half pipe.  Yo-Yo started to do flips off the walls, tagging the tops of them as he went, hollering, his voice echoing off the concrete.  Mew stood still, and tagged the ground.

               "Aw, just try one trick," Yo-Yo yelled.  "It wouldn't be that dangerous, would it?"

               "No."

               "C'mon!  You're making me feel guilty down there all on your own!"

               Mew sighed, and skated fiercely up the half-pipe wall, flipped over.  The sharp blue sky spun around her, and then she landed with a clack on the concrete, and giggled despite herself.  That had been fun!

               "Okay, I'll do a few more," she said as Yo-Yo wolf-whistled, and did so.  The air was cooler when you leapt through it, and their voices bounced off the walls, shrieks of glee.  The music blaring over Mew's wristwatch changed suddenly, to that African thing that she liked, and stopped doing tricks, and started to dance to it.

               And that _was _fun…the beat pulsed through her body, gripped her heart, and the strange eerie song entwined itself around her arms and legs like ivy.  And it seemed like the world grew red, a hot orange-red, and the drumbeats grew louder, and she closed her eyes and the music took her and whirled her round and round and round - and the sun shrank, became a ball of melting orange – the ground no longer concrete but hot, dry earth – and instead of walls and the street above, she was on a plain stretching as far as far could be, and nothing else but her and that lovely, lovely music –

               Someone screamed.

               At first Mew hardly noticed.  It was only when the music stopped, and she started to come down again…the concrete floor, the warmer, brighter sun…the traffic…her head was aching, and she was clutching her knife.  And there was _blood on the knife.  _

               And.

               This had to be another hallucination, like the plain a minute ago.  The music had made her crazy.

               "Yo-Yo?" she whispered.  "Yo-Yo, this isn't funny, please stop it…please…"

               And her fingers were – were hurting, as if she'd been scratching something – and there was torn skin and blood under her nails – and Yo-Yo's pale, slumped face was marked with thin, red scratches, as if – as if she'd been trying to –

               Only that hadn't killed him – the knife –

               The red cut in his throat.

               Mew started to cry, and as she cried she heard something laughing, and she thought she saw, faintly, something lurking behind the barred gate at the end of the halfpipe, but when she'd blinked her tears away it had gone, and she was alone.  And she stood sobbing, and called out the names of the other GGs, and blood started to soak from Yo-Yo's hoodie and ripple across the concrete floor.


	5. Accusations

Chapter Five

By Mazaki Sora

(A/N: **cries from the loss of Yo-Yo** …Indigo and Scarlet are © Me, Kell is © Tallulah, and anyone else is © Sega. R + R or I shall curse thee…muhahaha…)

"Yo yo yo, K-man here bringin' you all the tight and upbeat tunes of today! As most rudies out there know, somethin' freaky has been goin' 'round murdering other rudies! That's a serious crime, taking out the bringers of the soul to the streets… If you've been keeping count, so far a Noise Tank and a Love Shocker have bit it! Woah!! This just in; one of my informants has just found another victim! Who woulda thought – one of the GG's was just seen dead as a nail. Yo-Yo of the GG's was found slaughtered in the half-pipe in Shibuya-cho. Now, wasn't that cute little Mew out tagging with him? Where could she have gone? And does she know?"

Indigo flicked off her radio. "Mew? If she was with him, then –" She blinked a few times, thinking. "I'm going to have to find her…"

She was shoving on her skates when footsteps resounded down the ward. Voices carried with the footsteps, conversing loudly.

"Yeah, a Rudie came in last night with her chest slashed open. She's down here."

"Thanks. We'll take her to the station right away."

Ooh… You're gonna get it now… the cops are coming to get you… 

She sung the last few words, her voice rising and falling over them. Indigo winced at Scarlet's evil chuckle. 

"Shut up!"

Hey, let's make a deal- 

"Fat chance. Now shut it before I make you!"

You didn't let me finish Chloe-chan… What I was trying to say is that I don't think you have much of a chance to get away from the police… so…

The footsteps were closer now, just about to round the corner.

Let me out and I'll get you out of here without getting arrested… What do ya say Chloe-chan? 

Indigo grit her teeth, looking between the corner and the other end of the ward, sealed by a wall with a window that would be impossible to break through unless you were the incredible Hulk. 

She's right…

Of course I am, Chloe-chan.

Giving a feral growl, Indigo stood up, grabbed her scythe, and answered Scarlet.

"Quite callin' me Chloe and you've got a fucking deal."

An evil chuckle.

Smartest thing you've done in a while, Indigo.

For once in her life, Indigo welcomed the darkness that swallowed her whole.

Three police men and Captain Onishima rounded the corner, expecting to see some strange looking Rudie lying in a hospital bed, mortally wounded, but weren't prepared for what they saw. Standing in the center of the aisle was a girl with coffee skin, ratty black hair that fell in her face, and was clutching a scythe at her side. She smirked at Onishima, cat-like eyes narrowed in malevolence. 

"Hello boys," she murmured, giving them a wink.

What the hell are you doing!? FLIRTING!? 

"Give me a second, I'm playing with 'em…"

Indigo groaned.

Onishima coughed slightly before speaking to her.

"All right missy, you can come with us down to the station quietly or we can drag you there kicking and screaming for all I care. You've got a choice."

"Okay, but I prefer a third choice. I decapitate all of you and leave a happy rudie. How's that sound?"

Onishima didn't look very content with that statement.

"You know, that's a threat to a police officer's life. You could get at least a year just for that!"

"And even longer for murder."

Suddenly, Scarlet charged forward, knocked down a police officer with the end of her scythe, kicked another one between the legs, and took a slash at the last one. All of them out of the way, she began dashing down the ward, towards the exit.

"Get back here you dirty punk!" 

Rubber bullets pinged at her heels as she sped down the ward, but she paid the indignant shouts of Onishima and his gun no heed. Scarlet burst through the doors, dashed down a hallway (narrowly missing a passing doctor), rushed past the nurse's desk, burst through another set of doors, and entered a lobby. She raced across the clean linoleum floor and dashed out the front doors, into the sunlight.

Onishima burst through the front doors and looked around wildly, to find the girl rudie long gone.

"Dammit!"

Let me back out NOW- 

"No! Give me five more minutes. I like this."

You got us out of the hospital without getting arrested, so it's time for you to go back in my mind and let me have my body back!

Scarlet could feel Indigo shoving her presence away, trying to take her body back.

"Us? Ooh, and you were the one that said I wasn't you… are you admitting that I was right?"

A growl.

NO! You're not me and you'll never be me! So GIMME BACK MY BODY! 

"Okay."

Finall- wait! What's the catch? 

"After I kill a few people of course."

SCARLET!! Do you honestly want us to get blamed for the murders even more!!?? If you kill even ONE person, they'll think I killed them all!! 

"Again with the us-"

Fuck you!! 

"My, my, temper, temper Indigo-chan. I can see why they want to blame you…"

LEMME OUT NOW BEFORE I HACK YOU TO PIECES!! 

"I don't see how you're gonna do that… Have you considered anger management classes?"

Piss off, you psychotic bitch! 

"Ooh, I'm so hurt…"

Oh, you've got nerve… You've got lotsa nerve… 

"'Course I do."

Being sarcastic won't get you anywhere! 

"It seems to be working just fine, in fact…"

Their bickering was cut short, however, by someone crying.

"What the-?"

Scarlet dropped her high-and-mighty look for a second and stared down the alley they had been approaching. The sound of someone sobbing echoed down the alley, towards Scarlet. She frowned and stepped inside the alley.

WAIT! I know who that is! That's Mew! Lemme out! I have to speak to her!! 

"Mew, eh? Miyazaki, right? I think I'll have some fun first."

NO! 

Scarlet continued down until she saw a figure curled up in the far corner, crying their eyes out. Short blue hair, blue dress, and blue striped stockings became apparent as she approached her. Grinning slightly, Scarlet put on an imitation of Indigo's voice and spoke to her.

"Mew? What's wrong? What're you doing down here?"

Stop it! That doesn't even sound like me! 

Mew looked up, face stained with tears. With the alley being dark, she instantly assumed the figure to be Indigo.

"H – he's dead! A – and I think I k – killed him!"

"Who's dead?"

"Yo-Yo! I – I was out tagging with him a –and this music came on and I was dancing and when it was done, he was dead!! My knife had his blood on it! A – and-" she broke off, crying harder.

Scarlet was struck by a pang of surprise. Luckily, Indigo was waiting and used that exact moment to shove Scarlet back in the corner of her mind and take control of her body again. Slowly, she knelt down in front of Mew.

"What kind of music was it?"

Wha- HEY! Why you little- 

"It was some African song a –and I thought it sounded cool s –so I started dancing and when the song was done I heard someone screaming and I – I looked down and saw Yo-Yo dead! And my knife was c – covered in blood! See!" she held out a small switchblade, waving it in Indigo's face. Indigo recoiled slightly, the stench of blood emanating from the blade.

"And you don't know if you killed him or not?"

"Don't believe me if you want, but I'm telling the truth! Yo-Yo annoys m – me a lot, but I'd never – never kill him!"

Suddenly, a look of panic crossed her face. She leapt to her feet. As she pushed past Indigo, the fishnet-clad girl threw something over her shoulder.

"If you're going to go tell your gang, they should already know by now. K found out and broadcasted it a few minutes ago. All you really need to worry about is convincing them that you didn't kill him."

Mew whirled on her.

"I _didn't_ kill him!" she shrieked. Indigo turned her head slightly to look back at Mew, who was shaking with rage.

"You honestly think they'll believe whatever you have to say? I dare you to go up to them, blood on you knife and clothes, and say whatever sorry-ass excuse you can come up with."

"You're crazy. And you know it. You and that psychotic bitch Scarlet, both of you! You're both insane, and you killed that Noise Tank, the Love Shocker, and somehow, you killed Yo-Yo!!"

Indigo turned to look at her.

"You're at that again?" Suddenly, her face twisted in anger. "How the fuck can you accuse me of killing someone when I wasn't even around!? News flash, I _was in the hospital_!! I was attacked by that monster you are trying so hard to ignore!!"

"I know you! You're an ugly whore who thinks she can get on top by killing people!! You're crazy! But you just crossed the line! You killed one of my friends and _I won't let you get away with it! _I'll kill you, I swear, once I catch you!! Once I get the proof I need, I swear to God that you – will – die!"

"You want proof!? Here's proof!" Indigo pulled up her fishnet shirt to show the three stitched gashes across her chest. "This happened last night!! After you left me with that Love Shocker's body, Kell turned up and we were attacked by the monster!! If you still don't believe me, go talk to Kell!!" She dropped her shirt back down.

"How the hell am I supposed to believe you!? I mean, you expect people to believe some lame-ass bullshit story about some monster that goes around killing people!? I mean, that story doesn't even cover what happened to Yo-Yo!! You killed him and I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!!!" She stamped her skate with each 'I hate you'. 

"Mew, please, you have to believe me. Remember, Scarlet was the one who hurt you. I'd never, ever hurt _anyone_, let alone you. Think about it, if I had killed that Noise Tank, Shar, and Yo-Yo, I wouldn't be making a story like this. While it may be hard to swallow, it's true," she paused a second, thinking. "I know it doesn't cover what happened to your friend. That, to be honest, confuses me. You were in a conscious state at the time, so you would've seen it kill him. What I don't understand is that your knife had his blood on it…" She broke off, shaking her head.

"Listen, I don't have time," Mew said, her voice wavering with tears, "I really need to get back to my friends…"

She thought of Tab, and how badly she wanted to sit near him again, lean her head on his shoulder, be comforted…

She shook her head and turned around. She dug the back of her skate in the pavement and pushed off, leaving Indigo behind.

You know, I could've taken care of her for you… 

"Okay, you need to get one thing down: **you can't kill people**. It'll make me look even more suspicious, and I can't risk getting caught because then, it will keep killing and no one will be able to stop it."

What 'it'? Remember, I killed all of them! That monster was just your imagination… 

Indigo sighed. 

"One, my chest is slashed open. Don't tell me you did that. And explain Mew's friend."

Silence.

"Wow, the never-stops-talking finally shut up!"

Still more silence.

Indigo blinked a few times, before a fountain of anxiousness welled in her stomach.

"Scarlet?"

Still no answer. Suddenly, Indigo _wanted _Scarlet to answer, to at least snap at her or start bickering so she knew that she was still there.

"Scarlet, answer me!"

Isn't this what you wanted…? For Scarlet to be gone from your life forever…? Didn't you used to fall asleep with her whispering in your ear, secretly wishing inside that she would just leave you be…?

Indigo shuddered violently at the low, hissing voice reverberating inside her head. She turned her head this way and that, looking around the alley for the source of the voice.

"Wh – who's there?"

_Didn't you? Didn't Scarlet used to scare you? She hurt you… she enjoyed watching you suffer… Isn't it good that she's gone?_

"What did you do to Scarlet!?" Indigo yelled.

 The voice gave a long, malevolent chuckle, but didn't answer. 

"Answer me!"

Silence greeted her once again.

Mew hit the pavement and looked back at the Garage door, tears stinging her eyes.

"Show your face around here again and we'll tag you so hard you'll get paint poisoning, murderer."

Gum's words stung, like acid. 

"But I didn't -!"

The door slammed before she could finish. Slowly, Mew picked herself off the concrete, vision swimming with tears.

"You killed him, didn't you?" 

_"What makes you say that?"_

Mew shuddered and began stumbling away from the garage, suddenly feeling inept in her skates.

"Don't play innocent! There's blood all over your knife!" 

_A hand grabbing her wrist and examining her nails._

_"How do you explain the blood under your fingernails?!"_

_"I didn't -!"_

_"You know what, it would seem very likely that you killed that Noise Tank and the Love Shocker, too!"_

_Mew wrenched her hand from Gum's grip and shrunk away, eyes wide with fear._

_"But-"_

_"You killed that Noise Tank, ran off and cleaned yourself up, ran back to the body, and started screaming, hoping someone would show up! It makes a lot of sense to me!"_

Mew shook her head and hugged herself as she skated along the sidewalk. The sun was shining far above, beating down on the neighborhood. 

Gum let go of her wrist and turned to the others.

"What do you guys think?" 

Mew dug her fingernails into her arms, ignoring the numb pain. They'd agreed. Well, most of them. She remembered one or two who didn't vote for her out of the GG's. But she couldn't believe it. Gum, her best friend. Beat, who was like a brother. And Piranha! All the times they hung out, chatting about girl stuff! Slate, Combo, Garam, they all hated her. But…

Cube and Tab.

Did they still believe her?

Did Tab still like her? And what about Cube? Cube always ignored her, but maybe it had something to do with the way she was. She probably thought Mew was too weak or helpless to do something of the sort. Maybe Tab thought that too.

Mew scowled to herself.

"Think I'm helpless, huh? Well, you'll want me back once I find out who's doing this… You'll be sorry you ever kicked me out of the GG's… Tab, Cube, I don't know what your reasons were, but I'll show you that I'm not weak like you seem so inclined to believe."

Mew kicked a stray pebble ahead of her and watched it bounce several feet up the sidewalk. She was jerked out of her thoughts, however, by the growl of wheels across pavement directly ahead of her. Her head shot up to see Indigo dashing her way, obviously in a state of panic. 

Indigo showed no signs of stopping or even seeing Mew. Yelping slightly, Mew jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, Indigo tripped over the back of Mew's skate.

Quickly, Indigo scrambled to her feet and was about to take off again when Mew seized her arm.

"Yo! Stop for a second!!"

Indigo grabbed her hand and tried to force it off, but failed miserably.

"Let go of me!"

"What is wrong with you!?"

"Lemme go!!"

Mew slapped Indigo.

"Cool it! Now, tell me what's wrong!"

Indigo glared at her.

"It's none of your business!" she snarled, digging her fingernails into Mew's hand. Mew gritted her teeth, but didn't let go. 

"Well, whatever it is, you might as well spill because secrets don't seem to stay under cover very long around you!"

Indigo stopped struggling.

"It's Scarlet – she – she's gone."

The GG's sat sullenly around the garage. Gum looked on the verge of ripping out her hair and screaming, Beat had his face hidden in his arms, Tab was sitting in a corner by himself, brooding, and everyone else was either busy being gloomy or shocked.

Silently, Cube crawled over to where Tab was sitting and plopped down next to him.

"So… why'd you vote for her to stay?"

"I know she didn't kill Yo-Yo, or the other two. She'd never do anything like that… I know her… Why'd you -?"

"Same reason. I know she doesn't – er – didn't like Yo-Yo, but she'd never kill him because of that."

Tab clenched his fists at his sides. "I can't believe they'd do that to her! Throw her out there to get killed by whatever's killing those rudies!" he growled.

"Well, they _do_ think she's the one killing them…"

Suddenly, Tab stood up.

"Fuck this! You people are so –so _immature_! How dare you accuse Mew of killing one of her own friends!? I'm out of here; I won't be back until you bitches get your heads out of your asses!"

With a slam of the door, he was gone.


	6. In My Head

Chapter Six

By Tallulah

The sky was slowly clouding, like a bruise, and the air was thin and hot and smelt of coming rain, and the breeze was getting stronger, flicking at Mew and Indigo's hair as they stood in the street.

               "What do you _mean, _she's gone?" Mew said.  "She's part of your personality.  She can't have gone."

               "Well, she is.  _It – did something to her –"_

               "Oh, the monster again."  Mew let go of Indigo's hand, and rubbed her palm down her dress.  "You're really losing it.  Your dumb lies are even scaring you now, huh?"

               "Shut up.  I've got better things to do than listen to _you, _Miyazaki."  

               She spoke the name like an insult, and it slapped Mew's already blistered feelings.  Rage burst through her, tore out of her like she was made of paper.  She grabbed Indigo's shoulders, and screamed, "_You shut up!  You ruined my life!  You killed him!  You fucking whore, you dirty evil bitch, __admit it!  SAY YOU DID IT!"   She started to sob, the tears hot as the anger, shook Indigo back and forth.  _"Say it!  Please say it!"__

_               "I didn't do it!"_

_               "You did!"_

_               "I didn't!  **No.  I did."  **_

               Indigo's voice had become deeper, darker, on that last sentence.  Dark as blood.

               Mew let go of her.

               "Hah…I said so…" she said, but suddenly she was scared – this _was the killer – this was an actual killer – and she'd killed Yo-Yo –_

               "I didn't," Indigo said, her voice shaking, her face sickly-white.  "Mew – it's – it's –

_               "It's in my head…"_

She whimpered, suddenly, a small, childish sound, and pressed a hand to her mouth.

               "What do you mean, it's in your head?" Mew said.

               "It's – it's watching my thoughts – it's trying to get in where Scarlet was –"

               "I – I think we should get somewhere safe."  Mew swallowed.  She shouldn't believe this, she should tell Indigo she was nuts – which she was – but –

               _It's in my head –_

And there was Yo-Yo's blood under her fingernails –

               "Where?" Indigo whispered.  "You idiot, there _isn't anywhere safe."_

               "Okay – look, I know this is probably dumb, but do you actually have any friends?  Someone who could put us up for the night, at least?"

               "Us?"

               "Well, I – I don't have anywhere else to go.  And I don't want to be out on the streets…do you?"

               Indigo watched her a moment.

               "You're not my friend," she said at last.

               "Uh, likewise.  This is only because I don't want to be turned into chop suey, okay?"

               "Okay, fine.  I'll work with you for now."

               "So?  Where do we go?"

               "Follow me."

"I don't think the others'll be happy," Kell said, chewing her lip.  "They aren't exactly keen on you two, seeing as you two were around when Shar bought it.  So if I put you up, you gotta keep quiet.  Get it?"

               "Sure.  Thanks."  Indigo grinned, shakily.  "We'll go up onto one of the empty floors in this place, 'kay?"

               "Good."  

               Their voices and the clack of their skates echoed through the huge warehouse as Kell led them towards a flight of metal steps going up to the nearest balcony. 

               "And I saw that monster.  But I don't think it killed Yo-Yo.  From what I heard.  So if either of you even _think about hurting any of my gang…"  Kell turned to face them, the red light from the bar sign burning her eyes.  "I know a lot about pain, and trust me, I'm happy to show you.  Get it?"_

               Mew swallowed, and nodded.

               "If I get a chance I'll try and bring you some food, but I can't promise anything."  Kell led them up the stairs, their skates rattling on the metal surface.  "Okay – go up the next flight, then lurk in one of the empty offices.  Should be okay there."

               "Why did we have to ask _her?" _Mew whispered as they carried on climbing steps.  "She's creepy –"

               "She's my friend, I trust her, she knows I'm telling the truth and she's got a huge HQ.  Next question."

               Mew stuck out her tongue at Indigo's back as they kept climbing.  Since when did Chloe Sumner get so damn cocky?

               Finally they reached the next floor, and crept off the balcony through a rotted door and into an empty office, filled with millions of dusty work stations.  Most of the furniture had vanished long ago, but there were still a few battered desks and torn chairs dotted around.  There was one window, narrow, running round the top of the wall, but it was so grimy the light could hardly get through, so they stood in dusk.

               "Ick," Mew muttered as her skates left scratches along the dusty floor.

               "Don't moan," Indigo snapped.  Her teeth were gritted, and her face was oddly shiny.

               "What's your problem?"

               "My _problem is this thing's a lot stronger than Scarlet was, and it's trying to break out, and if it does you'll be in the same position as your dead friend!  Now shut up!"  Indigo stormed on down the room until she reached one of the few remaining chairs, and slumped into it.  "I didn't sleep too well last night.  __Don't disturb me."_

               Mew found another chair, and slammed herself into it.  It creaked deeply, and she shuddered as the mildewy fabric seeped coldness through her stockings.   

               "If the monster's in your head," she said, "does that mean that – we're all safe as long as you can control it?"

               She didn't believe in the monster – it had to be Chloe who'd done it –

               But _shit, it didn't matter who'd done it – what mattered was that it wasn't her –_

               "I don't think so," Indigo said.  "It doesn't need someone to hide in.  It can go on the streets itself just fine.  It's still out there."

               "Great."

               "Sorry.  Not much else I can say, is there?"  Indigo turned to look at Mew.  Her eyes were shadowed, and her lip pale from where she was biting it.  "Why?  Thought you didn't _believe in the monster."_

               Mew swallowed, and shrugged.  "Just – just wondered."

               "Okay."  Indigo squinted up at the window, then glanced at her watch.  "Look, I know it's still early, but I'm damn tired.  I want to sleep.  Stop talking."

               "What if it comes out of your head when you're asleep?"      

               "Scarlet couldn't.  It shouldn't be able to either."

               Indigo curled her feet up on the chair, and closed her eyes.   

Mew glanced up at the window.  Even through the dirt she could see it was still daylight.  She couldn't sleep now.  She was meant to be chilling in the garage with the others – with her friends –

               Her friends who'd voted her out and told her she was a killer.  No.  No.  She hadn't done it, she couldn't have done.  She wouldn't do something like that.

               The blood?  The scratches?

               Her knife?

               "I'm not crazy," Mew whispered.  "I'm not, I'm not, I didn't do it."

               _It's in my head –_

               Was that it?  

               The monster did exist, and had – had possessed her somehow?

               It was trying to do that to Indigo –

               _Chloe's a liar.     _

But why would she lie about this?

               _Because she wants to hurt you._

Why?

               _Duh.  Because she hates you for making her life a misery in school._

But – but – 

               _She hates you.  But that's okay, because you hate her, don't you?  Don't you?  Look at her –  _

Indigo sat, head resting on her curled-up knees, blue hair glinting in the dusky light.  Mew stared, and felt that old irritation at Chloe flare up again.  Stupid heavy ugly girl, with her scowling face and those scornful eyes.  What had she called Mew?  _A ditzy little beauty queen?  That had been ages ago, of course; when they'd first met – _

               _Now she thinks you're the same, both rudies.  But you're not, are you?  You're way better than she is.  She's not a proper rudie, not really, she doesn't understand about being a rudie, she's just ugly old Chloe Sumner and she shouldn't be here –_

Behind Mew's eyes the world grew hotter, and the blood-darkness – and a faint echo of drumbeats – and a little girl, chanting something in a strange tongue – 

               The plain, spilling out around her.  The scythe lies on the sandy ground, half-buried in dust.  She picks it up, hefts it in her palm.  

               The darkness is growing thicker.

Indigo kept her eyes shut, wishing she could fall off the real world and into the darkness of sleep –

               The darkness of something else, though, maybe, perhaps – that _thing was all around her, clutching her head in its claws, waiting, waiting – it felt like the sea was trying to break through her skull._

               How could she sleep?

               Eventually she dozed.  She could still feel her aching hips, jammed up against the back of the chair, and the sagginess of her tired body, but her mind was flicking through twisted images and she wasn't thinking any more, just watching them.

               _Scarlet lay at her feet, ripped to pieces, her cat-eyes dead as marbles.  Indigo dropped down, shook her, tried to wake her up.  She had to take her to school because Miyazaki was there and without Scarlet Chloe knew she couldn't face it.  But Scarlet was dead.  Blood was oozing out of her in little spits, over Chloe's hands._

_               "How could you?" she screamed.  "Where are you?  Damn it!  Come out and fight!"_

_               There it was.  A dark figure, walking towards her from the shadows._

_               Chloe's brain kept twisting it into other things –_

_               Click – a tall thing, claws tearing from its hand like branches, snickering as it bounded towards her –_

_               Click – and the claws became a long, curved blade – Indigo's scythe – Indigo's scythe in Scarlet's bloodied hands – Scarlet giggled, her eyes glowing, her hair matted like an oil storm round her head  –_

_               Click – and it wasn't Scarlet, of course not, it was Miyazaki, her hair shiny, her school uniform spotted with blood, a pair of square-edged red sunglasses propped on her nose, and she raised the scythe and –_

Indigo dived off the chair, landing heavily on the floor and the scythe blade slammed into the seat and it split.  

               "Mew, what the _hell –"  _Indigo kicked out at Mew's legs, and the other girl lost her balance, her skates flew out from under her and she landed on her hands and knees, still clutching the scythe.

               _"Mew!"_

Indigo stared into the other girl's eyes.  For a moment they seemed – shinier – animal eyes – but then Mew blinked, and her eyes were normal, cute brown eyes like dark amber beads.  "What?  What happened?"

               "You just tried to hack me to bits."

               Mew stared at Indigo, then at the scythe, and then started to whimper, a low, trembling sound like an injured animal.

               "That must've been what happened to your friend," Indigo said.  "It's trying to get into your head, just like it is with me.  Only I've had practice because of Scarlet." 

"I – I –"

               "Don't panic.  You gotta keep your mind strong."

               "Don't _panic?" Mew shrieked.  "Are you mad?  _It made me kill him!  _I did it!  I did it – I –"_

               Indigo shook her, biting down a sense of smugness that Miyazaki was going to pieces like this.  "So you believe it exists now?"

               "I – yeah – I think –"

               "You _think?"_

"How – how do I know _you didn't make me do that just now?"_

               "What, have you gut me with my own scythe?  I'm not _that _crazy."

               Mew scowled, like a child.  "Could have been you wanted me to think –"

               "Mew, can we just get over this whole I'm-a-killer thing?  _You're _the one who killed that guy.  And I was in hospital at the time.  That can be proved if you want.  Now _trust me."_

Mew sniffed, her lip trembling now.  "Why – why should I trust you?  I don't like you –"

               "I don't like you.  And you're the one who pushed _me _around so I think I'm being damn nice making this offer.  But it's either that or sooner or later we'll be dead."

               Mew took a deep breath, and then let it out, sending her hair flickering away from her face, and picked at the lace hem on her dress for a few moments.  Then she saw the blood spots on it, and shuddered, and dropped it, and looked up at Indigo.

               "All right," she said.  "I'll trust you."

               Indigo grinned.  Wow.  Miyazaki was actually humbling herself here.

               "Great," she said.  "Look.  Shall I explain where this monster came from in the first place?"

               "All right."

It sat in the alley.  

               Its skin was torn and aching from where the girl's scythe had struck it.  Too hard to attack like this.  Easier to get others to do it.  

               The minds were spots of colour.  It could see them, and it could reach into them.  

               One girl – her mind a cool, sharp blue – had smears of music wriggling through her brain still.  You could always get in, when they'd listened.    

               The other one – 

               It held a scarlet thread in its mental hands – and it could climb up, hand over hand, into the purple mind.  The scarlet writhed and twisted, trying to snap free, but it could grip until time ended.

               If the indigo mind wasn't constantly pushing away.  Too used to doing it, that was the problem.

               But it could still keep trying.

               It picked at the mind like someone chipping at a scab.

Indigo opened her mouth to speak, keeping her eyes on Mew as she did.  The girl looked scared, but curious as well.

               _Miyazaki never looked scared.  A foot sticking out as Chloe walked – a crash – the floor hit her stomach, and her lunch tray went flying – "Oops.  Tripped over your big feet?"_

Indigo frowned.  She didn't want to dwell on the past like this.  The present shit was a _lot more important.  _

               _But Miyazaki was good at screwing up anything important – like the time Chloe had to give a speech on the Periodic Table – she'd sprained her wrist  so couldn't sit the written exam – and Miyazaki had spent the whole time whispering and giggling and making fun of Chloe's voice – until she'd run out of the room in tears of fury and – then she couldn't remember what had happened –_

But so what?  This wasn't important!  

               "Indigo?" Mew said.  "Like, can you still talk?"

               _"Like, were you born that ugly?"_

_               "Like, do you have a brain in there?"_

_               "Like, how do you get your hair to look so manky?"_

**That little bitch – she deserves everything she gets –**

Indigo grabbed the scythe from Mew's hands, and raised it –

               "No!"  Desperately, she tried to open her fingers – drop the scythe – _drop it –_

**_               Punish her – punish her –_**

This was so much worse than Scarlet had ever been – she and Scarlet were equals – this thing was hotter, darker, it would drown her in seas of lava, she couldn't fight back –

               Someone slapped her, drove their elbow into her stomach, and snatched the scythe back – Miyazaki – like she'd done so many times before – 

               Indigo sprawled across the floor, trembling.

               "It nearly got me that time," she whispered.  "We have got to be careful…we have to tell the others.  Your gang, and the Love Shockers, and everyone.  It's probably recovering from when I spiked it – but that doesn't mean it can't do this to _anyone –"_

It cursed.  The indigo mind had locked now.  It hung like a purple bubble, sealed, ready, watchful.

               The blue mind was a possibility.  But it was ready now too – frightened, but aware –

               There were others.  Other rudies had heard that music when it had been played.  Two black minds had sat with the blue mind and listened – it could enter there –

               But wait –

               Footsteps outside the alleyway – footsteps from another mind.  A dustier blue here.  Emotions.  Worry.  Anger.  Misery.  

               Weak feelings made this sort of thing easier. 

               It eased itself forward, the cut from the scythe sharp as it moved.  

"Mew?  Mew, you out here?"

               Tab sighed.  He'd been all round Tokyo-to, and there was no sign of her.  Where could she have gone?

               He'd asked the Noise Tanks – Mew's old gang – and they hadn't seen her.  Surely she'd have gone back to them once she'd been kicked out?  Or maybe she was frightened they'd hate her too, especially with one of their own members dead.  Anyway, there'd been no sign of her in Benten-cho.    

               And he'd searched Kogane, and called in a favour from a Poison Jammer pal, and they hadn't seen her.  They hadn't kidnapped her or chased her or even noticed her passing.  And with the Poison Jammers' obsession with kidnapping beautiful women, she couldn't be there.

               He hadn't asked the Love Shockers yet.  He wasn't sure if he wanted to; they tended to look evil at anyone with a Y chromosome, i.e. him.  But if Mew was in trouble – 

               Of course, there was the other possibility.  That she'd run into – the other thing.  The killer.  

               _Oh, Mew…_

That couldn't have happened.  It couldn't.  Mew couldn't be dead – Mew – 

               Okay, so he was getting a crush on Mew.  At any other time he would have snickered at himself, but now the warm, sappy feelings swirling around him were just spurring him on – she had to be alive because people you were sappy about didn't die – they were warm and their skin pulsed with blood and they smiled and you went shivery –

               He'd find Mew because she was wonderful and he _had _to find her.  She was so sweet…so gentle…

               _Oh, is she?_

Of course she is, he answered his mind.  Why wouldn't she be?

               His mind shrugged, and muttered several names.  _Ryu.  Ken.  Sam.  Matt._

Tab glowered.  Those jerks had made his life a misery all through school.  But so what?  What did they have to do with anything any more?

               _Ryu stuck out a foot, and sent him sprawling across the ground, the books in his arms flung away from him, the spines cracking – _

_               And Mew giggled.  "You're such a klutz.  Tripped over your own flat feet, huh?"_

What?

               Tab froze.  

               Mew had never been there.  What – how – _how –_

_               She's just like them._

_               He saw her, sitting at the back of the classroom, the sun falling onto her pretty face, passing notes round the desks, snickering, and he knew they were about him, and his face started to burn, hot damp blushing – and they saw, and laughed, and Sam poked him in the back and said, "What's with you?  Got a crush on her?"_

But that hadn't been about Mew!  That had been some other girl!

               _But she did it to other people.  She's just as bad as them.  _

"No she isn't!" 

               He'd yelled it, and his hands were fists and the bones ached from the anger squashing them.

               _Yes she is.  Watch…_

It slowly inched into the blue girl's mind, and took her memories, and breathed them out into the thick, stormy air, and they oozed into the other mind and the pain and confusion in it grew stronger –

_"Chloe-chan!  Wow, you actually look nice today!"_

_               "Oops, did I trip you up?"_

_               "Don't talk back to me, you're such a freak."_

_               "Hey everyone, Chloe fancies Jyou!  Chloe wants a boyfriend!  Hah, fat chance –"_

Mew's face, shining with cruelty, giggling, her mouth sharp, her eyes wide with joy –

               Tab knew that sort of face, he'd hated it with every cell in his skinny, beaten-up body until one day he'd snapped and covered the school with tags and quit and ran out onto hot Shibuya streets –

               "Mew…"

               He'd hated it –

               But he liked her – Mew – 

               _A killer.  Someone who does that can do anything.  Keep looking, but when you find her you can smash her head in like you wanted to do to those guys all those years ago, huh, Taro?  It'll be fun…_

"Mew…"

               He stumbled on down the street.  The sky was rumpled and grey.  There was a storm coming.


	7. Discussions and Concussions

Chapter Seven

By Sora

Mew watched as the sky grew grayer and grayer by the moment outside the window. She and Indigo had been sitting silently all day, and she wasn't surprised to look at her watch and see the numbers '11:30 PM'. 

She scowled and silently cursed everything that had happened.

Why did everything have to screw up all of a sudden? 

_It's all Chloe's fault._

Sure, she could blame Chloe. Ever since Chloe showed up, bad shit had happened. She insists she didn't kill anyone, and now there was proof that she hadn't, but all the same… It felt good to blame her for seeing those bodies, killing Yo-Yo, and getting booted out of the GGs like scum… 

She said the monster came from a record. But how did K get hold of such a record?

Wait… 

Mew sat up slightly, remembering.

 "-I found a little 'gift', if you will, for all you listeners! It's a little record I picked up in some freaky little voodoo shop! Let's test it out, shall we? Hahaha!"

Voodoo shop? So this all had something to do with voodoo? Suddenly, Mew remembered yet another thing.

When we battled Goji's demon… didn't it come from a record also…?

Mew risked a glance at Indigo. She was curled up in the other chair, sleeping. Mew stopped herself from popping out and bombarding her with questions, just to make sure she actually had answers. 

All we had to do was tag the buildings the rhino demon was protecting and it blew up…but this… 'thing' is different… How're we gonna go about destroying it?

She continued to brood.

It sneered as the crisp blue mind recoiled in deep thought. Smattered throughout the mind were hundreds of tiny, trivial questions, but one seemed to stand out more than the others combined.

How're we going to get rid of it?

It knew she was referring to him. But it didn't seem worried at the prospect that they were plotting against it. Rather, it looked amused.

"Incompetent fools…" it hissed, laughing maliciously. It had long stopped picking at the dust blue mind, seeing as it had wandered away several hours ago. The indigo mind was of no use, as it was resting, closed again. There were several other minds near the blue and indigo ones; however, very few of them were accessible. Only two of them had heard the song; therefore, they were easily available. But, they were all closed in sleep.

It shifted its attention, seeking other minds. It saw the Garage, and the many minds crowded around. One black mind was separated from the others, fully awake and active, most likely in the other room. 

Of the other minds, only one was awake; a yellowish-green mind, inaccessible because it had not heard the full song. The black mind, however, was fully and completely usable. 

It sneered again.

Cube opened the refrigerator and blinked furiously at the light that poured out, casting a chunk of silver across the kitchen floor, only punctuated by Cube's shadow. She yawned and bent over, rummaging through the fridge, searching for anything edible. 

Shutting the door in a frustrated manner, Cube looked around the small kitchen before her eyes settled on the clock.

12:00 AM

She bit back a yawn and looked towards the open door, into the main part of the garage. In the darkness, she could make out the remaining GGs all scattered around the room, asleep. Well, five were asleep and one was awake. 

Beat stood by the window, leaning on it. Cube could only tell that it was Beat due to the fact that a sliver of moonlight had fallen across his face, but soon disappeared as grey clouds engulfed it once again. 

'Wonder why he's still awake…'

She yawned again and decided against a midnight snack. Just as she made for the door, she looked away and saw the window above the sink was open. Doubling back, she grasped the edge and slid it down quietly. 

Cube looked down and let her arms fall back down to her sides. A cutting knife glinted in the sink.

As she stared, a weird sensation crept up behind her. She felt a heat wave wash over her, and before she knew it, drums and rattles were echoing strangely in her head, and a little girl whispered a strange language in her ear. She shook her head slightly, but the sounds only grew louder.

Before she knew it, she was on a dusty plain, the sun burning orange above her.

But… there was a storm coming! And it… wasn't it nighttime?

Suddenly, a drunken smirk crossed her face. 

Mew has good taste in music…

She began to sway her arms around her, before moving her hips in a similar manner. Turning a circle, she looked down. Slowing to a stop, she smirked. A knife lay at her feet, covered in orange dust. She reached down and grabbed it.

With an explosion of light, the darkened garage, sleeping GGs and slivers of moonlight dancing on the floor rushed back to her, and the knife clattered to the floor. Cube looked around wildly to see Beat on the floor, clutching his arm and staring at her in shock.

"Cube!? What the – what the fuck's wrong with you!?"

Cube backed away, terrified.

"Wh- what happened?"

"You just tried to gut me with a knife! What the hell were you thinking?!"

She clapped a hand to her forehead and blinked furiously.

"B – but – I was in the kitchen! I had shut the window, a –and I heard that song… and then I started dancing! I couldn't have – I wasn't even here!"

"It's pretty easy for someone to walk from the kitchen and into here!" Beat spat, standing up with difficulty.

"No, no, no! I don't think I was even in Tokyo-To…" Cube finished weakly.

"You have no idea how stupid you sound right now-"

"Look, I have no idea how I got in here, and I have no idea what happened between the time I shut the window and tried to stab you except that I was dancing!"

"I'd like to make a correction: you didn't try to stab me. You did."

He let go of his arm, and Cube backed away farther, eyes wide with shock. Blood was caked all over his right arm, unusually dark against his pale skin.

 "Oh… my God…"

Indigo blinked a few times and stifled a yawn as she woke up. Shifting in her chair, her eyes roved around the room. Desk, chair, trash bin, desk, Kell, chair – she did a double take. Kell was sitting cross-legged on the desk near Mew's chair, examining her nails. She looked up to see Indigo staring at her.

"Ah, you're up," she stated dryly. Indigo raised an eyebrow at her and the Love Shocker responded with an almost undetectable nod in Mew's direction. Indigo glanced at Mew to see her curled up in the chair, looking on the verge of tears.

"Mew, you okay?"

Mew looked up quickly, startled, before settling back down again and answering in a half-hearted voice, "Y – yeah. Just – thinking about my old gang…"

Indigo looked from her to Kell again.

"What're you doin' here?"

"I woke up, and I couldn't get back to sleep. Besides, I don't think I wanna sleep on the fear of being stalked down by a monster looking for revenge."

Indigo scowled.

"It's not going to want revenge on you. It'll want me 'cos I'm the one that almost gutted it."

"Whatever. Well, it's around one AM last I checked – but, since we're all sleepless at the moment, and the other Love Shockers are asleep, I think a conversation is in order."

Indigo sighed as both Kell and Mew looked at her expectantly.

"It's like I said before, K got hold of an old African voodoo record and decided he had to share it with us on Jet Set Radio. Well, because the song played beginning to end, a monster was summoned. This – thing is out in the streets right now, killing rudies left and right."

Mew shifted slightly.

"But – why?"

Indigo rested her chin on her knees and hugged them close.

"Way back when, this thing would only kill animals and the sort, just for food. But, it soon decided sport hunting was a lot more fun. Well, it got bored of killing animal for thrills and decided it'd rather do humans." She blanched slightly before continuing, "A group of voodooists came together and banished it into the record, seeing as it would be near impossible to destroy it completely. So, it's back, and it's got a whole rudie population to hunt."

Kell looked between Mew and Indigo thoughtfully before speaking.

"What about kitty's friend? The thing didn't kill him directly."

"That – we have a slight clue as to what was up with that." She decided against telling her about the little fight Mew and she had several hours back. "The thing, we think it can like use people as puppets and the sort. Like, mind-control. The problem is, it seems extremely intent upon getting into my head."

Kell instinctively back away a few centimeters.

"Are you sure about that??"

Indigo nodded.

"Why?"

"Er – I never told you this, and I was really really intent upon not letting it slip when I was a Love Shocker, but – well, I have a split personality, or alter ego, or something. Well, I guess that the thing has got her – or something – and is trying to get in where she was, because it will have a much longer hold than just controlling a random person. Get what I'm saying?"

Kell looked at her like she was nuts.

"You're a schitzo?"

Indigo sighed. "No, she's a completely different person, and looks way different. Yellow eyes, black hair. NOT me. She's like another being, living in my head. But… I can't feel her anymore… I don't know what happened to her, and I regret to say this, but I'm worried."

"You should be! I mean, you could got nuts any second and hack us all to pieces!!" Kell jumped off the desk and began backing away.

Indigo shook her head.

"I'm not letting it. I'm used to pushing Scarlet away - this time is no different. It's just a little stronger, but I can handle it."

Mew snorted and muttered under her breath, "Yeah, like you handled it back then…"

Indigo glared at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kell asked, looking between the two. "You might as well say because I could always throw you back out on the street," she added, almost triumphantly.

"The monster decided it wanted fun so it took over Mew here and made her almost kill me, then switched over to me and almost made me try the same thing." Indigo stated bitterly, shooting another glare at Mew, who just smiled sweetly.

Kell sat down again.

"So it enjoys insinuating chick fights?"

Mew hiked an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything.

"No, it enjoys seeing people die. Gettin' it yet?" Indigo answered, shooting another evil look at Mew.

Kell noticed the looks exchanged between the two girls.

"Okay, I know you two used to make life living hell back in school for each other, but this is just ridiculous!"

"One, I never even bothered her – she's the one who was a bitch to me. Two, we've agreed to work together, so we're putting most of our differences aside. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna like her." Indigo ended bitterly.

"Same." Mew added shortly. 

Kell breathed out a sigh and crossed her legs carefully.

"You two are so immature – I just don't see how a grudge can last this long…"

"All right – back on subject-"

"YO YO YO!! DJ Professor K here, bringing you the low-down on the streets along with the music of the future – JET SET RADIOOO!!"

All three girls jumped violently at the sound of K's voice from their wristwatches.

"Well, well, well… I've just been informed on quite a big piece of advice!! It seems the GGs made a mistake when they kicked kitten out of their group!!"

"No fuck…" Mew muttered.

"The attacks on the GGs haven't stopped! Word up: American Goth-chick Cube just attacked their leader! And now she's on the run – my informant on the streets just saw her running for her life from the Garage! Mew, kitten, you better get back there quick-like if you wanna straighten things out! Also, to GG member Tab, get back to the Garage right now unless you want Goth-chick to slice you to ribbons!!!"

Mew paled slightly.

"Cube attacked Beat!?"

She stood up quickly, almost knocking her chair back.

"I gotta get back there – what if she killed him!?"

"Woah! Sit down! I'm sure he's alright- K woulda mentioned it if he'd died."

Mew stared at Indigo strangely for a second before sitting back down again.

"Do you have any idea why your friend attacked your leader?"

She shook her head.

Indigo was silent in thought for a second before speaking again.

"Did she hear the song?"

Mew nodded, hugging her knees to her chest.

Indigo snapped her fingers. "That's it! The thing took over her and made her attack your friend – Beat, right? That means that your name might be cleared now."

"I don't see how that helps…" Mew muttered bitterly.

Suddenly, she looked up, panic crossing her face.

"He told Tab to get back to the Garage – that means Tab's out there with that – that thing!! It could attack him, or – or send Cube after him or something!! I gotta go find him!"

She jumped up again, dodged the desks and chairs littered around the room, and was out the door in a flash of blue.

"Mew, WAIT!"

Indigo leapt to her feet, snatched up her scythe, and dashed after Mew.

Kell sighed heavily.

"Here I come…" she muttered, rolling her eyes. Sliding off the desk, she chased after the two.

Center Street – not a good place to be in the dark, on skates. Going down an incline at top speed in the dark is as dangerous as charging head on at a bomb wielding kamikaze Golden Rhino – one railing, lamppost, or street light unseen is enough to take out even a Poison Jam member, or Combo.

But, Tab really didn't care. He'd been to Center Street so many times he knew it like the back of his hand – at least he hoped he did. He really didn't want to smash head first into a lamppost and hobble back to the Garage not only without the person he ran out to find, but also with a dent in his head.

Turning Jet Set Radio up a few notches, Tab stepped through the open gate and onto the steep incline, immediately feeling its effects. He pushed off slowly and rolled down the hill, crouched down to reduce speed. 

He reached the bottom with no incidents, and took a sharp right turn. He began dashing up the hill parallel to the main street, constantly glancing to his right for any movement in the allies leading back there.

Tab began to feel the burn in his legs as pushed up the hill, but ignored the aching feeling as he neared the top. 

"Tab!"

He braked quickly and looked around wildly. Turning down Sweet Soul Brother, he listened harder.

"TAB!"

He nearly toppled over as a blue blur ran right into him, grabbing him around the neck.

"Woah – Mew!?"

She looked up at him, grinning.

"Thank God you're safe!"

"What do ya mean?" Tab questioned as she hugged him closer. When she didn't answer, he pried her off gently.

"What do you mean, 'safe'? Is there something I need to worry about?"

Mew sighed.

"There's someone out there killing people. I didn't want it to get you."

"What makes you think that? I'm the incredible Tab, after all – I'm not that easy to take down!"

He gave a goofy grin. Mew giggled and hugged him again.

"Uh – Mew?"

Mew let go of him. "Yeah?"

"I wanted to ask you something –" he began, fidgeting slightly. Casting his eyes up at the cloudy sky, and then throwing them back at the ground, he continued. "Erm – this may sound weird, but – well, back at your school… were you – like –" he broke off, at a loss of words. He couldn't think of a way to ask her if she really did do all that stuff – tease that Chloe girl, and be a ditsy little bitch – wait. He knew Mew – she'd never do anything like that! Why was he even asking??

Mew looked at him curiously, but he could've sworn he saw fear in her eyes.

Was she - ?

No – she couldn't have! 

Sweet, innocent Mew – she'd never hurt a fly!

What if she's not as innocent as she seems?

But – he knew Mew. He loved Mew. She'd never do anything like that – could she?

She blinked a few times as he stood there, looking at her.

"What is it Tab? Was I like what?"

"Nevermind. I'll ask ya back at the Garage – let's get back."

Mew nodded and was about to follow him as he left, but stopped.

"Tab!"

"What?" he stopped and looked back at her.

"Did you hear the broadcast a few minutes ago?"

He shook his head. "Nah, just turned Jet Set Radio on a minute ago."

"Cube attacked Beat – and they said she was running for it."

Tab looked frozen for several seconds.

"Wh –what?"

"I don't know much, but he said that Cube attacked Beat and ran for it. We need to get back quick-like if we wanna see how Beat's doing."

Suddenly, Tab grabbed her wrist and the two rocketed back down the hill, tears stinging their eyes as the wind whipped at their faces. Just as they braked at the bottom of the hill and began dashing up the main street, rain began pattering down on their backs and speckling the concrete.

In mere seconds, it was pouring down hard, and Mew and Tab were finding it hard to find a good foothold as they pushed up the hill.

This storm was gonna be bad…  


	8. Choose a Side and Stick With It

Chapter Eight

By Tallulah

Mew scrabbled at the garage door, yelping as the rain oozed through her dress and down her back.  It had seeped into her skates too, and her stocking toes were warm and slimy.

               But in a way the rain was good because it helped her not to think about what the other GGs would say when they saw her again.

               "Come on…"  Tab shifted from foot to foot behind her, sending drips over her clothes.  "What if he's –"

               "He won't be."  She spat rain as she spoke.  The air was damp and warm.  It smelt of mould.  Come on."

               She shoved the door open, and scurried into the dry, cold air of the garage.  It was dark except for the shadows twisting across the floor from the clouds outside. 

               "What are you doing here, bitch?"

               Gum, face and dress glowing white in the darkness, charged towards her and shoved her backwards. 

               "I thought I told you to stay out –"

               Gum's eyes were red; her fists were clenched; her voice was shaking.

               "Gum, listen –"

               "I said shut up!  Get out!"

               "Gum."

               Tab had crept in after Mew, and stood next to her now.  "Listen."

               "What – Tab, she – she –"

               "Exactly.  She ain't done nothing.  It's Cube who hurt Beat.  How is he?"

               "He's in hospital, having himself stitched up," Gum growled.  "But it can't be Cube – she wouldn't do that – she wouldn't –"

               "And Mew would?"

               "She's done it before."  Garam's voice echoed over from the battered GG car.  He sat on top of it, where Yo-Yo had once perched, his goggles glinting in the sudden flicker of lightning outside the window.

               "That's what we need to explain," Mew said.  "You guys have to listen.  It's the monster –"

               "Not fucking funny," Garam snapped.  "Get it, Mew?  Not funny at all.  Yo-Yo is _dead, _Beat's hurt, this is real life, not a fairy tale."

               "Don't be too hard on her," Slate said.  "Killer – too crazy to know the difference."

               Mew gasped, and then she felt Tab's rain-spattered, warm hand grip hers.  She squeezed it back, and that helped her stay calm.

               "Look," she said, "even if I had done it, then how likely is it Cube tries to do the same thing, huh?  Two of us going psycho at the same time?"

               "Oh, _sure, you're lying, it was you, you set Cube up or something," Gum snarled._

               "I wasn't even _there!  _And Beat saw her do it, didn't he?  He wouldn't have made that sort of thing up!"

               "Well, _I didn't see her do it!" Gum screamed.  "But you killed Yo-Yo!  And whatever the hell happened, you're not a GG, so get out of here!"_

               "I agree with Mew."

               That was Piranha.  She stood up, and sauntered over to them.  

               "What?" Gum said.

               "I agree with Mew.  It's stupid to think she and Cube are both closet psychos, specially as they ain't never done nothing like that before.  So something else must be going on, huh, Mew-chan?"

               "Yeah," Tab said.  "I don't know it what it is, but she does."

               "You're both nuts," Garam snapped.  _"She killed Yo-Yo.  That mean anything to you?"_

               "Yeah," Slate said.  "This is another trick."

               "I think we should listen to her, Nose Man!"  Piranha marched forward.  "Why don't you just _think _a bit?  Cube and Mew are our friends, they wouldn't do stuff like this so something must be wrong –"

               "Maybe they're in it together –" Gum yelled.

               "Yo-Yo would listen to her!  He was always smart deep down!"

               "You shut the hell up about him!"  Garam leapt down from the car and landed heavily as the lightning blinked again.  "He wouldn't want to listen to the bitch who killed him!"

               _"Guys!" Tab yelled above the shouting._

               "What?" Gum demanded.

               "Why don't we wait till Beat gets back.  Then he can decide, he's the leader and he was actually hurt.  Okay?"

               The others considered this a few minutes, then Gum scowled.  "All right.  But Mew's gonna stay right here, where we can see her.  Okay?"

               "Sure."  Mew sat down where she was, shuddering as her soaked skirt tightened round her legs.  Garam glared at her before clambering back up onto the car again, and resting his head on his knees.  Slate turned back to the pinball machine and started another game.  Piranha sat down on the floor too, and started moving her head in time to _Miller Ball Breakers.  _The music rang out, dark, heavy, singing of parties and nights which were never truly black.

               Gum stayed, staring at Mew, her white shoulders trembling.

               Tab sat down next to Mew, and whispered, "Well, that could've been worse."

               "You mean they didn't burn me at the stake?"

               Tab grinned, and hugged her a moment.  Mew wanted to snuggle up to him, but she didn't quite dare.  He probably wasn't interested in her that way.  Besides, they had more important things to think about.

They waited for about an hour.  An hour of faint music.  An hour of pinball bleeping.  An hour of eyes watching her from the dark.  An hour of thunder, lightning, rattling rain.

               The storm was quietening down when the door opened and Beat and Combo walked in.  Beat's arm was bandaged. 

               "What – Mew?"  Beat frowned.  "What are you doing here?"

               "Go on, hat-boy," Slate said.  "Make your excuses."

               Tab squeezed Mew's hand again, and got to his feet.  "Beat.  You okay?"

               "Yeah.  Come on.  What's she doing here?"

               "We heard what Cube did.  We figured something bad's going down, and we thought you guys needed to hear what Mew's got to say."

               Beat shrugged.  "Hate to say this, Tabster, but Mew ain't exactly the most innocent person around."

               "Nor's Cube, now.  Come on, Beat, you know both of 'em, how likely is it they'd both go nuts?"

               Beat stared at Mew, frowning, and she forced herself to meet his eyes.  She wasn't guilty, she wasn't.  And she'd show him she wasn't.

               "All right," he said.  "What've you got to say?"

Mew explained everything that had happened.  The rain faded as she spoke, and by the time she had finished, it had gone, and the night was smooth and silent, and the streetlights glowed in the raindrops on the window.

               "…and I reckon that's what happened to Cube," she said at last.  "The music…took her over."

               She stopped, suddenly aware of how dry her throat was, and stared round at the other GGs.  

               Beat looked thoughtful.  Gum was scowling.  Garam was slumped on the car, his goggles hiding his expression.  Slate was playing pinball like she wasn't even there.  Piranha was leaning forward, elbows resting on her knees.  Combo was looking down at them from under his hat, his face hidden by its shadows. And Tab, next to her, was looking nervous, but he grinned when their eyes met, and whispered, "Good job."

               "Well?" Beat said.  "That's it?"

               "Uh-huh."

               Gum said, "That is the biggest load of –"

               "Shut up," Combo growled, and they all glanced at him, because he hadn't said a word so far.

               "Make me," Gum said, glaring up at him.  "Just cos you're big don't mean I'll sit back and take it."

               "Mew's right," Combo said.

               "Like hell she is.  Monsters don't exist –"

               "Cube wouldn'ta done something like that," Combo said.  "I can't see any reason why she would.  But Beat ain't no liar.  And I reckon the kitten's story fits."

               "Monsters?" Garam said.  "You believe in them still?"

               "I can tell a liar," Combo said.  "And Mew weren't lying just then.  And I _know Cube wouldn't do nothing like this.  I known __her since she was tagging with crayons.  And what the hell.  Even if Mew ain't got it all right, her story's a damn sight nearer to the truth than anything else.  So I say we listen to her."_

               "Okay, fine," Slate said, not turning from the pinball table, its flickers sparking round his silhouette.  "So we believe her.  Then what do we do?"

               "We gotta tell K to stop playing that music," Beat said.  "If it can possess people –"

               "But it didn't possess anyone the first time we heard it," Gum said.  "Remember?  Cube and Mew listened to it all the way through, and – oh – shit –"

               "I reckon," Mew said, "I reckon you have to hear it once, and then the next time you hear it, it can get you proper."

               "So we _do need to talk to K somehow," Beat said._

               "You don't think that'll be enough, do you?" Tab said.

               Beat shrugged, "No, I don't, but what else can we do?  Go out and hunt this thing down ourselves?  If a rudie with a scythe couldn't take it down, then who could?"

               "Maybe no one could," muttered Gum.  "Because it _doesn't exist –"_

Piranha glared at her.  "Maybe you should keep your mouth shut, girl."

               "What?  I don't believe in magic!  What's so wrong with that?"

               "You heard Combo!"

               "Guys?" Beat said.  "Can we quit bitching here?"

               "Oh, shut up!" Gum yelled.  "You're as dumb as the rest of them!  Look, you saw it was Cube that did it, didn't you?"

               "Yeah, but –"

               "So that means _Cube did it!  _And that's all there is to it!"

               "She's your friend!" Mew yelled.  "Cut her some slack, why don't you?"

               "Beat's my friend too!"

               "Oh, geez, can't we even have _one _conversation in this gang without girls gettin' hysterical?" Slate said.

               "Hey, I'm not hysterical!" Piranha snapped at him.  "And at least I say something, I don't just make love to the pinball machine!"

               "Girls always fall back on dumb insults."

               "You sexist jerk –"

               "Oh, here we go with the feminism crap," Garam said. 

               "Shut up," Combo said.  "You're talking out your ass."

               "Says the guy who thinks monsters are real."

               "This one is and we need to know how to kill it!"

               "If it's so damn powerful how can it be killed?" Gum snapped.  "You got all the answers, Mew, how can we kill it?"

               "I don't know!  I figured you guys could help me!"

               "Help you when you killed our friend –"

               "Shut up and quit getting at her!" Tab yelled.  "We need a plan, we ain't got much time –"

               "Well, we don't have one!" Gum yelled back at him.  "Live with it!"

               "Well, _we do."_

               They stopped.  The breeze was picking up again, and the windows rattled.  

               So did the door, but that was because two figures had pushed it back against the wall.  They stood there now, damp, one clutching a scythe.

               "You should have stayed to listen to us, kitten," Indigo said.

               "Yeah."  Kell's spiked hair was drooping like wilting leaves, and her make-up was smeared.  "We ran out to follow you and we got all wet in the rain.  So are you guys gonna grow up and _listen, or…do we have to do this the hard way?"_

               Several GGs gulped.  Indigo's scythe did look awfully sharp.

               "What do you want?" Beat said at last.

               Indigo flicked rat-tails of damp blue hair out of her eyes.  

               "I think I know how to stop the monster."  

The storm hadn't cleared the air.  The garage was becoming humid, smelly.  Mew's dress stuck to her back, and suddenly her eyes were aching for sleep…sleep in the heat…outside, the sky was smeared with a preview for sunrise, a hint on the horizon.

               "So let me get this straight," Beat said, massaging his temples with one hand.  "The monster was brought here by that voodoo record."

               "Yep," Kell said.

               "But when, uh, Indigo weakened it by stabbing it, it decided to kill by possessing people and getting them to kill instead."

               "Yep."

               "It can only do this if you've heard all of the music, though."

               "Yep."

               "But you think it can be stopped by some other record that K has."

               "Yeah, I do."  Indigo nodded.  "My dad told me about two records.  Balance, you see?  One brings it out, the other sends it back."

               "How do we know K didn't just leave the other record in the Bahamas junk shop?" Piranha asked.

               "I'm hoping he didn't," Indigo said.  "So what we do is, we request him to play that song at a certain time today, and while it's playing, we got to lure the monster somewhere and turn on our radios and that really loud.  And that should kill it."

               "And if it doesn't?" Mew said.

               "Hopefully it will."

               "This has too much hoping in," Gum muttered.

               "Well, it's the only plan we got," Kell snapped.  "You got a better one, blondie?"

               "I was just saying –"

               "Guys," Beat said.  "Look.  We need to…uh…we need to…oh, shit, I need more sleep.  We need to…"

               "Why don't we sleep?" Indigo said.  "We can plan later.  When we're all awake.  The monster won't attack our minds while we're asleep, and it won't try and break in."

               "Are you sure?" Piranha said.

               "It only would if it was desperate, and there's still people on the streets.  That's if it's strong enough to attack."

               "You're not staying here, are you?" Gum said, glowering at Indigo and Kell.  "This is _our _garage –"

               "We know when we're not wanted," Kell said.  "I wouldn't sleep with GGs…well, not most GGs anyway."  She grinned as Gum's scowl darkened.  "Come on, Indigo.  We'll go back to the HQ."

               "Be careful," Mew said before she could think.

               "Of course we will, kitty," Kell said, snickering.  "I'm probably safer than you anyway, I've got the girl with the scythe."

               She and Indigo walked out of the garage.  Gum stood watching until they'd gone.

               "Right," she said at last.  "Mew, what are you still doing here?"

               "Gum!" Beat and Tab both yelled.

               Gum looked a little mulish.  "What?  Look, she hasn't been _proved innocent."_

               "Why can't you just –" Tab began.

               Mew sighed.  She was too tired to have this argument.  "Quit it, guys.  I'll sleep on the roof, okay?"

               "That sucks!" Tab yelled.  "We're a _gang, you're part of it, you…"_

               Mew shrugged, and turned away so he wouldn't see she was trying not to cry suddenly.  Because he was right, they were, had been, a gang, and this had been her home, and these people had been her friends, and now one of them was dead and the rest hated her, and if they were gone she really had nobody and nowhere to go, and that was too cold and dark to think about…

               She grabbed a blanket from the floor, and, clutching it, clambered out through the skylight and onto the roof.  She thought, _make sure I don't flash my underpants, Yo-Yo'd love that – _and then shuddered because he never would, never again, he wasn't somewhere else he was _gone –_

The roof was damp.  Streetlamps and night sky rippled, broken, in the puddles on its surface.  Mew sighed, found a relatively dry patch, and sat down, wrapping the blanket round her shoulders, and stared out at the city.

               Cube was somewhere in that city.

               Was she all right?  

               Had the monster found her?

               Or had she really gone mad, and become a monster herself – no – that was a bad thought – 

               The skylight creaked, and she looked round to see Tab climbing through it.  He was clutching his own blanket.

               "You don't need to do this," she said.

               "I want to.  If I stay in there I'll punch someone."

               He squeezed next to her, trying to avoid the damp.

               "They – they're just scared," Mew said at last, not sure if she was right, hoping she was, because you could feel sorry for people who were scared.  

               "Huh."

               Nervously, she put an arm round his shoulders.  He was so tense.  But his back was warm against her skin, and warmth was good because the breeze was sharp out here.  

               "You don't reckon it can get up here, do you?" she said at last.

               Tab swallowed, and leaned over to stare down at the ground.

               "I hope not," he said at last.   

               They sat together for a bit, blankets itchy on their skin, the rain oozing into the edges of their clothes.  The sky lightened, slowly slowly.  They breathed together, and Mew closed her eyes, and let her head rest on Tab's shoulder, and sank down into a confused dream where she sat on the roof under a blazing orange sky and told herself to explain to Tab why she'd killed Yo-Yo.

               She opened her eyes when her face felt sun.  

               Yes.  Faint, white sun, too new.  

               "Sleep well?" Tab said.

               "I…dunno."

               "Mew."

               "Yeah?"  He sounded serious, like he had Something To Tell Her.

               "I…"

               "What?"  She smiled at him, but he didn't smile back.

               "Did you, um…did you…why did you…become a rudie?"

               She frowned.  "Parent trouble and a school I hated.  My friends were moving onto college, and I'd flunked my exams.  No point in staying in _that _life.  Why?"

               "I just wondered.  Did you like school?"

               "It was all right.  I had friends and all.  It was just…school, y'know?  Why, did you like it?"

               "No," he said, watching her carefully now.  She liked him watching, her skin purred under his gaze, and yet – yet she was nervous suddenly.

               "No, I hated it.  Bunch of jerks there made my life a misery."

               "Shit.  I'm sorry."

               It came out automatically and the next moment she suddenly had a stomach-ache.  He _would _hate her if he knew.  It had only been a bit of fun but he wouldn't see it like that.  Oh no.  

               He was still watching.

               Did he know?  Had Indigo talked to him?

               Her face was freezing, like a rabbit in headlights.  Whatever she did, he might take it to mean she was keeping her mouth shut about something…

               Whatever she did…

               Tab _wouldn't think badly of her, she wouldn't let him –_

               So she wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him, and he froze for a moment and then kissed her back.

               That would stop him asking questions, a nasty part of her mind whispered.

               The rest of it wasn't thinking any more, it was just feeling.  Uncurling joy in her body.  And the sun rose.

It watched, and laughed.

               Sooner or later it would break into her mind.  Kitten-girl.  Kittens could claw and scratch.

               But not at the moment.

               The black mind?

               The black mind was sleeping, terrified sleep in a back alley.  It could attack, it could find her and attack, but then it would lose a receptive mind…no, better to wait.

               Nearly healed.  Soon it could get out on the streets and there would be no need for mind-games.

               Except for one.

               The scarlet thread writhed in its claws, and it reached out to it, and whispered, _Why are you angry?_

_               LET ME GO NOW!!_

_               Why should I?_

_               I mean it!  Let me go or I'll fucking kill you, you bastard!_

_               I can hold you forever –_

_               You can't!_

_               You don't know that.  I can hold you forever.  Or I can free you –_

_               You're damn well gonna free me!  _

_               Or I can give you life._

_               What sort of bullshit is that?_

_               You really want to go back to living in someone else's head?  You really want to sit there being nothing but a spectator?  You really want that half-life?_

_               What else is there?  _But Scarlet's thoughts were less angry, suddenly, more thoughtful.

               _Together we can overpower your captor's mind completely._

There was silence a moment, then Scarlet said, _Carry on._

_               I'm trying to use your link to climb into Indigo's mind, but she is closing against me.  But she won't close against **you.  She misses you.  She will welcome you back.  All you need to do is take me with you.**_

_               And suppose I climb back in and leave you out here?_

_               Then you can't overpower her.  You're not strong enough.  You two are equals, you'd fight eternally.  I will tip the balance.  When her mind has been destroyed, I will let you have the body, and go elsewhere.  Deal?_

More silence.  Then the scarlet thread flickered in the claws.  

               _Deal._

Indigo yawned, and opened her eyes, and stared up at the empty, echoing ceiling of the Love Shocker HQ.  Looked like the storm had finished, anyway.  Still too hot though.  Her head ached.

               _Indigo?_

She froze.

               Scarlet?

_               Yup, it's me.  _

What happened to you?

               _It's a long story…_


	9. Not As Easy As They Figured

Chapter Nine

By Sora

Mew looked around at the other GGs. Sunlight glanced off their faces and glimmered on their wristwatches, causing ones in the plain view of light to squint hard just to view their comrades.

Silence pervaded the room like noxious gas as they sat, staring at each other, some with lingering accusation, others with curiosity. 

They all jumped when someone knocked on the door.

Quickly, Mew scrambled to her feet and walked over to the door. She cracked it open a few inches and looked out. Seeing Indigo and Kell, she pushed the door open wider and stepped back, letting them inside. 

Silently, Mew stole back to her sitting position on the speakers and watched as Indigo walked inside, followed by Kell, who shut the door.

They looked around at the GGs.

"What's up with you lot?" Kell sneered, leaning against the door and folding her arms.

"Shut up Love Shocker," Gum grumbled, but went silent at the glare a few of the GGs gave her.

"All right, now that we've slept, I think it's about time we began planning," Beat announced, voice stiff.

They looked around, a few at Mew, others at Kell and Indigo. Eventually, Indigo broke the silence.

"Kell and I talked a bit last night and this is pretty much what we came up with."

Everyone seemed to lean in closer.

"Okay, so here's the plan…"

"Everyone know their parts?" Indigo looked around at everyone. They all nodded, faces grim.

"All right," Kell said, stepping forward and clapping her hands a few times, "We got a DJ, a record, and a missing GG to find. Let's get those out of the way, and then we can get rid of this monster. Let's go!"

Everyone filed towards the door and dashed out, each going one of three ways - Kell and Beat heading for Benten, Tab, Piranha, and Indigo heading for Shibuya, and Mew, Combo, Slate, Garam, and Gum heading for Kogane. 

"All right, this should be the place," Beat stated, skating up to the door of a rundown house in the residential district of Benten. He knocked on the door as Kell waited a few feet behind him, arms crossed.

Several seconds later, a man with scruffy brown hair, beady eyes, and tattered clothes opened the door and peered out at the two gang leaders.

"What do you punks want?"

"We're here to see DJ Professor K," Beat answered, glaring hard at the man.

"I don't know who that is. Go away."

Beat stopped him from closing the door.

"Yes you do, _Pink. _I'm GG leader Beat, and the sulking girl back there is Love Shocker leader Kell. We need DJ's help."

The man scowled and pushed the door open.

"Come inside."

 Indigo shook Tab's hand as they departed in the half pipe. 

"Good luck kid – it's very honorable of you and Piranha to volunteer – be careful."

Tab gave her a mock salute and laughed.

"Don't worry about us – we're fast enough to outrun this thing, wherever and whatever it is."

She smiled before turning to continue down the half pipe. Tab was about to fling open the gate to Park Street when he stopped. 

"We checked for Cube's signal on our watches – she's in Center Street all right – just keep going down the pipe until you get to the very end – there's a gate there that you can get through to get into Center Street!" Tab called after Indigo.

"Thanks!" Indigo called back, before disappearing around the corner.

Mew entered the old factory in the Kogane junkyard first, coughing as her skates stirred up dust. Garam came next, followed by Combo, then Slate, and Gum was last, muttering something about 'waste of time'.

As they all stood in a group, Mew took a look around, eyeing the walkways and the shadowed entrance to the sewers.

She turned back towards the group to see the piles of crates on each side of the entrance.

"I have an idea…"

"Yeah, I got it – I haven't got around to playing it though. Why do ya need it?"

"Reasons."

K arched an eyebrow at this, but didn't answer.

"Think you could play it today?"

"…Sure. When?"

Kell looked up from the box of records she'd been leafing through.

"When we tell you to."

"…Okay…"

"Here," Kell said, tossing her wristwatch to the DJ, who caught it with a confused look.

"We'll contact you on that – when we yell 'now', you put the record on and **make sure you don't stop the song at all. **I don't care if Onishima brings all the tanks, helicopters, dogs, paratroopers, and SWAT guys the city provides, **do not interrupt it. **Got it?"

"I guess…"

Kell stood up and brushed her shorts off.

"C'mon bug-boy," she said, walking out the door. Shrugging at K, Beat followed the Love Shocker.

Cube looked up from her curled position on the steps leading through the narrow alleyway to see Indigo running towards her.

"What do you want?" she snapped as Indigo stopped at the bottom of the steps.

"It's about all those murders… we know what's doing it and we need you back so it can work. Follow me."

Cube looked at her suspiciously. 

"We?"

"The GGs, me, and the Love Shocker leader."

Cube stood up, clutching to the banister. 

"You mean they don't think I did it? I figure that's what they'd do – they did the same thing with Mew."

"Well, we were able to convince them of the truth, and now we're ready to get rid of this murderer – we need you."

"As long as they don't jump me or something – it's not my fault I stabbed Beat – my head went funny or something…"

"I can explain that to you later – just follow me."

Cube sighed. "Okay, I'm coming…"

Indigo led Cube back towards the gate leading into the half pipe, explaining the plan to her as they dodged cars.

"…so, when we get back along with Kell and Beat, we'll give the order to Tab and Piranha over in Park Street to lure out the monster. When they get back into the old factory, Beat will contact K and tell him to play the song. Then – poof! It's over."

"Okay," Cube commented, clambering down the steps after Indigo. They dropped down into the half-pipe and began dashing along it, the growl of their skates echoing off the concrete.

The sun was already straight above them, indicating noon had come after spending the morning getting ready. The sun beat down harshly on the two rudies as they sped down the half pipe in silence, and Cube found herself worrying what she'd do if she inadvertently got a tan or sunburn – no more Goth until it was gone, she was for sure of that…

Suddenly, Indigo stopped. Cube barely managed to not run into her.

"What's wrong?"

Indigo didn't answer.

"Yo! What's up with you kid?"

Indigo's shoulders were quivering. It was a long time before she answered, and even then her was voice stuck somewhere between calm and hysterics.

"Go into Park Street and get Tab and Piranha. Tell them I said to take them to the factory - there's been a change of plans. Tell Mew that _it's in my head_… it's not here anymore… it's in my head…" her voice had shrunk to a raspy whisper.

"Wha-?"

"Just GO!"

"O – okay…" Cube stammered, confused. Quickly, she backed away and began dashing back towards the steps to Park Street. That's when she heard Indigo scream.

Kell and Beat arrived in the factory to see Mew stationing everyone in different positions – Combo and Slate were crouched behind the crates on either side of the door and Gum and Garam were laying flat on their stomachs on the walkway running horizontally to the door (the one that hangs across the middle of the room). 

"Okay – did he have it?"

Kell and Beat nodded at the same time. 

Mew looked around the factory with worry plastered on her face.

"What's up?"

"I don't know if there are enough places for everyone to hide."

"Well, Tab and Piranha won't need to hide – how about you get over there," Beat pointed to the corner on the walkway, "Indigo and Cube get over there," he pointed at the opposite walkway, "and Kell and I can get in the sewer entrance," he hooked a thumb at said entrance. 

"All right, sounds like a plan," Mew said, forcing a small smile.

As Beat skated for the entrance, Kell looked at Combo and Slate.

"What's up with that?"

"Well, I figured the monster might turn around and run for it when we play the song, so I figure when it comes in, Combo and Slate can push the crates over the entrance. It'll trap it."

"What about us?"

"We can get down into the sewer and use one of the exits there to get back into Kogane."

Kell nodded her approval.

"You're smarter than you look, kitten." She winked and joined Beat in the exit to the sewer.

As Cube desperately searched for Tab and Piranha, she flicked on her wristwatch and contacted the first GG she could think of.

"Mew?!"

"Wha-? Cube?"

"Indigo just freaked out in the half-pipe! She told me to tell you that it's in her head and that it's not here anymore!! Whatever that means! I'm bringing Tab and Piranha back with me like she told me to!!"

"Wait!"

Cube had turned off her wristwatch as soon as she spotted Tab and Piranha ahead.

Mew looked at Kell, her face pale. Kell stared at Mew's wristwatch, having heard the message also.

"Wh – what's going on?"

"I... don't know…"

Shaking her head, Mew ran up onto the walkway and crouched down in the corner, head spinning from the confusion of it all.

'It's in her head? Does she mean the monster? Wait – of course she means the monster… but – what does that mean? It's not supposed to really matter – Tab and Piranha can find the monster itself and lure it out – but, what did she mean 'it's not here anymore'? It's not at the factory? I – I'm confused…'

"I don't know, but Indigo said clearly for me to bring you back to the factory and that there's been a change of plans – or something! I don't know, there was something seriously wrong – she was shaking and said something was in her head! I don't know – this is all too complicated – and I still don't know why I tried to kill Beat, and then some girl comes up and says you've found the killer – and I'm confused!"

Cube was severely pale now, and leaning on Tab for support. 

"Calm down, girl! Where is she now?" Piranha asked the shaking rudie, glancing about nervously.

Cube looked up and over her shoulder, at the half-pipe entrance. Her eyes went wide, and she pointed a finger that way.

Tab and Piranha looked to see Indigo climbing out – but she looked quite different from the Indigo they'd been with a few hours ago. Her hair was tangled and charcoal color, falling in her face and brushing her shoulders. Her eyes were bright, evil yellow with cat-like pupils – but there was something inhumane about them – almost animalistic.

She flung back the gate and crossed the street, towards the three rudies in the playground, grabbing her scythe as she slunk towards them.

 "Come on, let's get back to the factory quick-like if we don't wanna be sliced to –"

"Move it!" Cube yelled, cutting Piranha off. Turning tail, the three GGs began dashing away, Indigo in hot pursuit.

Several minutes later, Tab, Cube, and Piranha all burst inside the factory, all with similar looks of panic plastered on their faces.

"Indigo's gone nuts!" Piranha yelled, stumbling down into the pit, along with Tab and Cube. But no one was able to react right away – because a second later, Indigo burst inside, scythe clutched in her hands, oily black hair tangled in her face. Her cat eyes spotted the three in the pit. Unaware of the several rudies hiding around the factory, she began descending the steps.

Kell's eyes met Mew's. They were terrified, and everyone else showed the same feeling. Gum looked shocked beyond belief, Cube was paler than usual, Combo looked stuck between terror and confusion, and everyone else has a mixture of all of those. Mew looked between Scarlet and Kell, eyes wide in shock. 

Suddenly, Mew understood.

It's in my head… It's not here anymore… 

_It's – in – my – head._

She flicked on her wristwatch, set it to Kell's, and shouted into it.

"NOW!"

"What the – ? What the fuck is she doing!?" Beat whispered angrily, but Kell ignored him.

"It's in her head…"

"What?"

Gritting her teeth, Kell dashed out the entrance and yelled as loud as she could -

"TURN ON YOUR RADIOS!!"

Quickly, Mew turned the dial of the volume up as high as it would go. Everyone else did the same, and soon, the song was echoing loudly around the factory, nearly shaking its foundations.

Indigo froze, eyes wide. Turning, she made to dash for the entrance, only to jump back as the crates came crashing down.

"NO!" she screamed, covering her ears with her hands, dropping the scythe.

She began backing away, and looked around, spotting the several rudies standing up from their hiding places, wristwatches held out.

"I can still kill you all!" she yelled, stumbling over to her scythe and snatching it up.

She began dashing towards Kell, scythe raised high above her head – she reached her, and brought it down –

There was a loud clang as the metal of the scythe hit the blade of the dagger Kell had pulled out. Pushing out, Kell knocked Scarlet back slightly and produced a few sparks as her dagger grazed across Indigo's scythe.

Screaming in fury, Scarlet brought the scythe down, but Kell blocked it yet again. Pushing her blade against the scythe, she leaned in towards Scarlet.

"Indigo, I know you're in there! Fight them – you pushed Scarlet away, and you pushed it away! You can push them both away!"

She threw her back again, the metallic ring as their blades scratched echoing around the factory.  

Mew jumped over the rail of the walkway and began dashing towards the two fighting rudies, withdrawing her own knife.

The music pounded loudly around them – Scarlet was looking even more exhausted by the second.

Mew lunged with her knife, but Scarlet turned just in time to deflect it with her scythe.

"Silly girl, don't you realize that if you hurt me, you hurt your friend also?!" she screeched, clutching her scythe tighter. 

She brought the scythe up, and as her arms rose, Mew saw her stomach – one hideous scar, dark red against the chocolate skin – and her chest – there weren't any scars…

As she raised the scythe, Mew dodged under and jammed the knife with all the strength she could come up with into Scarlet's stomach. Dark, blackish blood spattered her hands and clung to her sleeves, staining the bright blue a nasty purple.

She jerked out the knife and stepped back as Scarlet fell to her knees, the scythe clattering to the floor. Blood spilt over her hands.

"You fool," she hissed, "You've just killed your pathetic friend…"

"Wrong," Mew snarled, throwing the bloodied knife to the floor, "Indigo had scars on her chest from where you slashed her – you have a scar on your stomach, where Indigo stabbed you. If you don't have her physical traits, then you aren't her."

Scarlet gave an animalistic growl. The music was still pounding around them, and Scarlet looked barely alive – blood poured onto the floor, her shoulders were heaving, and sweat drenched her face. 

Kell looked at Mew, a slight look of amazement present on her face at the rudie's display of violence.

Suddenly, with a roar, Scarlet sprung up, scythe back in her possession, and slashed at Mew. Luckily, Mew jumped back just in time to avoid being gutted, but not to avoid the scythe blade gashing across her arm. She stumbled back a few paces, blood soaking through her sleeve.

Mew looked around wildly to see her knife several feet away, on the ground. 

By now, the GGs had come back to life and were running to Kell and Mew's aid. Gum stooped down and grabbed Mew's knife, and Tab had run to Mew's side. Combo had a hold on Scarlet, and Beat was grabbing up her scythe.

Suddenly, the music rose to a sharp crescendo, and Scarlet screamed in agony, tugging against Combo's iron grip. Blood spattered on the floor, but she continued to fight.

Suddenly, the music cut out – Scarlet's eyes rolled up in the back of her head, and she fell limp.

Everything went eerily silent.


	10. In the Mind of the Monster

Chapter Ten

By Tallulah

Night.  Hot night.

               The girl's body lay in the back room of the garage, arms crossed over its chest.  Blood was heavy and rough on its clothes, and its eyes, still rolled back, stared at the dusty, graffiti-spattered ceiling.

               The door slid open, and Mew crept inside, clutching a torch.  The warm light sent the shadows scurrying.

               It smelt musty in here.  

               Mew sat down next to the body, and touched the shoulder.  The skin was cold.

               "Indigo?" she whispered.  "Chloe?"

               Silence.

               "Come on, Indigo.  You can't be dead.  She wasn't you."

               Scars.  She'd been so sure she was right about the scars.  And yet – this girl lay here, cold, quiet – dead?  No.  No.

               _You're a killer…_

"I did what was needed, okay?"

               Mew brought her knees up to her chest, and rested her head on them, and sighed.

               "Shit.  Thanks a bunch, Indigo.  Way to screw up my head."

               So where the hell _was _the girl?

               Think.  Mew chewed her lower lip, and then yawned suddenly, her eyes sandy and tired.  

               Scarlet had taken over Indigo.  And the monster had come along for the ride.  So that meant Indigo had been in Scarlet's subconscious all that time, just like Scarlet normally was in Indigo's.  

               But Scarlet's subconscious was destroyed now.

               Wasn't it?

               Who'd died back there?

               She touched the girl's forehead.  The skin seemed thinner; like she could reach the skull.

               "Who the hell is in here?"

**_Dying?_**

_Let me go…_

**_Won't die…_**

_Help me someone_

**_Open my eyes?  Can't_**

_Help me_

_Help me _

               Mew tried to think it out.

               Indigo had been taken over by Scarlet _and _the monster, and sunk into subconscious.

               The body that had been stabbed had the scars of the monster, but Scarlet's face.  So – so – Scarlet had possessed the body, but she'd somehow merged with the monster and taken on some of its physical characteristics too?  

               Go Miyazaki, she thought.  Man, you could almost pass your science exams with this shit.

               But then I stabbed it. 

               Did I kill both of them?                

               Scars…rough and shiny against skin.

               Scars!    

               Mew reached over and slid back the girl's ripped, bloody top, and stared down at the stomach.

               And froze.

               There were no scars.

               This wasn't Indigo's body.

               But it wasn't the monster's either.

               Mew gave a little yelp, and wriggled away from the girl a moment.

               "But we killed it!  That music!  Maybe it died subconsciously – maybe its body's out on the streets somewhere…"

               Maybe.

               Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and she jumped.  "Who's there?"

               "It's me, Tab.  Mew-chan, what are you doing?"

               "Uh…nothing.  Just…nothing."

               Tab opened the door and stuck his head round it.  "You shouldn't sit in here with it.  Could be dangerous."

               Mew shrugged.  "I was looking for Indigo."

               "Oh, yeah.  Mew, I'm sorry –"

               "She is still alive, Tab, I'm sure she is."

               "Mew…"

               "Look!"  Mew pointed to the scarless skin of the girl.  "Indigo had scars.  Scarlet didn't.  The monster did.  It's Scarlet that's dead, not Indigo _and not the monster."  Suddenly she was trembling.  "It's still out there –"_

               "Mew.  Come on.  It's nearly midnight.  You should get some sleep."  Tab hauled her to her feet.  "Okay?  We can think about this sort of stuff tomorrow."

               Mew bit her lip.  He should _listen – _

_               "Anyway," Tab said.  "When someone dies, everything in their head dies.  This girl died, so whoever was in there died too."_

               He led her out of the room, stroking her back.  Mew rested her head on his shoulder, and told herself he was right, that it was all okay, that she didn't need to worry.

               She didn't need to worry about that bitch Chloe Sumner – or her freaky psycho alter-ego who'd broken her arm – or some monster murdered by a record.

               Nuh-uh.  No worries.  Everything was going to be fine.

_               Where am I?_

_               Dark_

               Trapped

               _What happened?  Scarlet…_

_               Scarlet's gone…_

_               It's in my head it's –_

_               It's in **me**_

**_Make it get out someone – _**

_               Anyone –_

Mew yawned, wrapped the blankets round herself, closed her eyes, and fell asleep as quickly as if someone had shoved her into it.  

               She was in the factory area, which was filled with hot orange light.  And there was sand under her bare toes.  Skates gone.

               And the music was playing and she danced –

               But it was the other music, the new record, and as she danced, the sand poured itself away and the light turned from orange to purple to black – thick black light that clung to her face and hands –

               "Hey!  What's going on?  Indigo, where are you?"

               "Mew – Miyazaki – help me –"

               And she saw Indigo drowning in the darkness –

               "Make it get out – someone – anyone –" she choked.

               "Where are you!"

               "I'm in its head!"

               "You're not dead?"

               "No _shit!  _Listen, it's trapped me and I can't get out – Scarlet's gone – it's too strong – she was equal, we could fight – it's doing something _else – _it's not part of me, it's taken over – you've got to help me –"

               "How?"

               "I don't know!  Just do something!  _Help me!"_

               Indigo was falling through the darkness – Mew screamed and ran towards her – falling – falling – a tiny figure like the reflection in an eye – gone – gone –

               "Indigo!"

               And the dream slid off her like sand as she awoke.

               "Mew?"

               Tab was staring down at her.

               "You all right?" he said.  "You were twisting about and all." 

               "She's alive."

               "Huh?"

               "Indigo's alive.  She's in the monster's head, and I've got to get in there and get her out."

               Tab muttered something that might have been, "Oh, boy," and sighed.  "Mew, you can't go into people's minds.  This isn't the X-Files."

               "Well, it sure seems to have been happening enough lately.  It got into my mind, didn't it?"

               _It got into my mind…_

_               "That's it!"_

               "What?"

               "The first record – it connected me with its mind.  I have a connection.  I can get in there.  I'm sure I can."

               Tab sat down next to her, put his arm round her, and started to kiss her throat, but she hardly noticed as she tried to work out a plan.

It opened its eyes.  It ached all over – so much –

               But above it was the night sky, and the air was cool, gentle on its weakened body.

               The girl pounded on its skull, screaming, cursing, but it could keep her down easily.  Human minds were so easy to manipulate.

               It tried to stand, claws scratching on the pavement, but it couldn't.  Too weak.  

               Oh well.  It could wait.

Slowly, the sun rose.

               Mew sat in a corner of the garage, pressing her headphones to her ears.  She had been sitting there for several hours, listening to song after song.  They _hadn't _told K not to play the first record, had they?  Which was probably stupid, but…she was sure they hadn't.  Which meant if she heard it, the monster might crawl into her mind again.  

               She was hoping that maybe, maybe she could crawl into its mind too.

               Tab mouthed something at her.  She eased her headphones off one ear to hear him properly. 

               "I said, any luck yet?" 

               "No.  I've had Miller Ball Breakers twice, Sweet Soul Brother three times, and Let Mom Sleep like every other song.  K is _obsessed…"_

               Tab nodded, but she could see he looked relieved.  

               "You don't think I should be doing this," she said.

               "Well…no.  C'mon, Mew, we could go out or summat, at least…it's getting really hot in here…"

               "I told you.  If I'm going to do this, I'm not going to hurt anyone else."  She glanced at the car, where Yo-Yo had once sat, and swallowed.  "I'm sorry to keep you in with me, but if I don't I could do _anything."_

_               "It's okay, babe."  Tab grinned.  "Hey, I can gaze at you while you listen…"_

               Mew stuck her tongue out at him, and suddenly wished they could cuddle up together, and kiss and…stuff.  Right now.

               But if they did – and then the music came on and she killed Tab – 

               _No.  _

_               The song in her ears – 'Bout The City – ended, and K yelled, "Yo, this is your local resident rudie DJ Prof K, bringing you the latest and greatest tunes from the street!  Quiet day so far after the showdown in Kogane – GGs Mew and Tab ain't been out all day, whew, I wonder what _they're doing!  _Oh well, here's a little bit of voodoo hoodoo for the rest of you…"_

               Mew froze as that delicious beat sent goose bumps rushing over her skin.      

               "Now," she hissed to Tab.  "Now!"

               He hauled her to her feet and they hurried towards the room where Scarlet was still lying.  Tab glanced at her as they reached the doorway.  "Mew, are you sure –"

               "Yes!  Remember, do not let me out, and don't come in!  If – if it works I'll be done in like three minutes –"

               She dashed into the room, and heard the door close and lock behind her.  It was pitch dark in here now, no windows, and the musty smell from the body was growing stronger.  They should _really do something with it…_

               The music still played.

               "Okay," she whispered.  "Showdown Part Two."

               She began to dance.

_What?_

               A mind opening.  That blue mind, gentle and cool, widening, giving itself up…

               Yes.  Yes!

               It dived.  

"Indigo," Mew whispered.  "Indigo.  Indigo."

               Sand…orange heat…those horrible concrete walls fell away and the sunset rushed in…free…and that smell had gone, she could smell fresh air…

               Dance…dance…

               "Indigo…"

               Whispering that word was making it hard to follow the beat, though.  It would be better if she shut up…

               "In…di…go…"  

               Slowly, slowly, even as the thought was crushed, she remembered what she was meant to be doing…

               _Stop _dancing.  Stop…

               "In…"  Her throat was dry.  _"Indigo!  Are you there?  Indigo!  It's me, Mew!  Miyazaki!"_

_No!  _

               The mind was breaking away!  It was curling up, resisting the music…

               Put a stop to it.

Dance.  Dance.

               If only she had a weapon…something to make the dance perfect…but the sand was bare.  

               Bare because she was locked up – locked up by someone evil – evil –

               _Locked up because I have to find Indigo –_

_               "Indigo!"_

               Evil –

               Kill –

               "Indigo, come on!"

               The sky was getting redder, and the air was hotter, and it was so hard to _think…_and her mouth was filling with grains of sand –

               _You will dance_

_               "Indigo!"  
               __She's dead_

_               "No she's not!  __Indigo!"_

It cursed.  The blue mind was entwining itself into _its mind!_

               _How could this be happening?_

               It struggled to push her away, but it was too weak still…that record, that was it, it had cut its mind to the bone…

_Mew!  Mew, I'm here!  I can feel you, help me!_

The sky was blood-coloured.  Mew's arms and legs felt heavy.  Too heavy to lift – all they could do was follow the dance –

               The ground was fading, darkening –

               There was a pit opening in the sand –

               And at the bottom of it, purple – 

               "Mew!  Mew, I'm here!  I can feel you, help me!"

               "Indigo!"

               And she ran towards the pit, and then – then – 

               Falling into darkness. 

               Darkness so cold and icy that she began to scream.

Tab stood outside the room, his ear pressed to the door.  He could hear Mew calling Indigo's name, but her voice kept slurring as if she was dozing off.  He was worried.  If only he could see what was going on.  

               If only he had some idea of what to do.

               She could die in there and he'd just be standing here, _listening…_

_               And then she screamed._

               "Mew!"

               He fumbled with the key, his hands damp and shaking, and the door swung open, and he dashed inside.  Man, it was really beginning to stink in here…

               Mew stood in the middle of the room, her face white, and then she fell –

               He caught her just in time, and sank with her to the floor.

               "Mew…Mew, come on…"

Dark.  Darkness the colour of blood.  It smelt of blood as well, thick, meaty, and her skates slid through swamp and sand dyed crimson…

               Screams.  Squawks and roars of beasts, and drum beats and chanting…someone sobbing…a little girl, murmuring a chant…

               And so hot.  Her skin was drenched with sweat.

               Not that she could see her body.  It was almost like this was VR or something.

               "Indigo?" she called again.     

               The air noticed that.  

               The air _hated _her.  

               _"Get out of my head, you little beast…"_

_               "Indigo, I __saw you!  Where are you!"  
               __"She's mine…"_

_               The voice was low, rasping, and very, very loud, like the air itself was speaking._

               And Mew saw her, crouched in a corner, and ran over.

               "Indigo!"

               "Hey, Miyazaki…"

               Mew reached out, but it was like Indigo was behind ice.

               "How do I get you out?"

               "You think I know?  If I did I'd tell you."

               "Well…"  Mew tried to think.  It wasn't easy.  The stink and the roaring and the hate were making her feel dizzy.  

               She didn't want to think about what would happen if she fainted in here.

               "You must be in its subconscious.  Like Scarlet was in yours – is she here, by the way?"

               "Scarlet's gone."  Indigo swallowed.  "Okay…so what?"

               "How did Scarlet get out?"

               "She – she – well, normally I had to let her, like when _you _picked on me I'd let her out to take it for me.  But sometimes she'd try and get the jump on me…and I did the same once or twice, when she got carried away…it has to stop focusing on us…forget we're there…"

               "It won't do that."

               "No."  Indigo sighed, brushing her sweaty hair out of her face.  "And it's way stronger than us.  We're only human."

               "Shit!"  Mew punched at the ice, and yelped as bruising pain spread through her hand.  "There's got to be a way out of this…"

               She yawned despite herself.

               "Mew…" Indigo said nervously, "uh, I wouldn't go to sleep now…"

               "'M not…"

               Her eyes ached so much, though…

               Her arm was growing numb.  She forced her eyes to open, and saw her hand sinking through the ice…

               "Uh-oh…"

Far away, the record spun to a halt, and K whipped it off the turntable, issued a warning about police dogs in Kogane-cho, and started playing Yappy Feet.

Slowly, the darkness around Mew began to thin…and she could see walls, safe concrete walls, and a girl's body slumped on the ground…and…

               Gentle hands clutching her shoulders.

               "Mew!  Wake up!"

               _The record's finished, _Indigo mouthed through the ice.  She was fading as well.  _Get out of here…_

_               But Mew's hand was still stuck in the ice, and she could feel the cold sucking at her fingers…crawling up her arm…around her wrist the darkness was still strong, and it was widening, to engulf her…_

               "Mew!" Tab was yelling, and he was shaking her.

               Indigo clutched Mew's hand, looking desperate.  "Come on!  Wake up!"  Her touch was misty, hardly real – none of this was real except that she was still so tired…

               She could only see the monster's mind now when she closed her eyes, but she wanted to so _much…_

               _Yes, little kitten…sleep…_

_               The voice echoed round Mew's ears like thunder._

_               "I'm not letting go of her!"  Indigo was louder now.  "I'm real, she's real, you're not!  Let us out!"_

               _All right…_

_               "Huh?"_

               Indigo was thrown out of the ice, and landed heavily on top of Mew – and then dissolved into purple light that rushed up Mew's arms, over her chest, through her shoulders – 

               And into Tab's palms.

               He was thrown back, and he and Mew landed heavily on the garage floor.

               "Tab…" Mew gasped.  "Are you all right?"

               He didn't answer.

               "Tab!"

_Grabbing the top of my hair, wrenching my head up… "Spit it out, Chloe.  What were you saying about me?"  Pretty brown eyes and shiny hair… I bring my scythe up and stab it into the monster's chest, I smell blood, thick and oozing on my skin…sitting; long, smooth legs crossed, a sweet smile on her face as she sees who's come in… "Wow, look who's here.  Sorry, this classroom's for humans only."  Rushing forward, clutching her skinny little arm, twisting, twisting, her eyes shocked with pain…Scarlet whispering in my head, snickering and humming, I didn't kill them, I'm sure of it…Pouring with rain outside, I can hear it, I strap on my skates and run out of the dark house, shivering as the icy cold hits me… "My name's Miyazaki."  "Wow, nice name, pop princess."  She shoves me and my legs shoot out from under me and I hit the ground hard.  Won't cry.  Won't.  They've written U.G.L.Y across the back of my school bag and it's indelible ink.  It stinks and it's smeared itself across my shirt.  Snatching my school books and throwing them as far as she can across the playground and I'm screaming at her and she just laughs, she always just laughs…Mew curled up on a chair, crying, good, no we have to stick together…I can't stop her, I can't…lying on my bed crying…"I can help you" – voices in my head – it's in my head – Miyazaki – Mew –_

Tab jerked himself away from Mew.  Anger was twisting his face.

               "You bitch," he yelled.

               "Wait –"

               He leapt to his feet, and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind him.


	11. I Love You But I Hate You

Chapter Eleven

By Sora

(Quick A/N: *hurls a brick at AngryScientist* Tab is NOT ugly, you goober! _ He is the second cutest GG guy, after Beat! *sticks tongue out* Well, in my opinion anyway – I bet Tal says different XD; I'm guessing Tab is your first choice, right Tal? XD; *shuts up*)

~

The anger and the indignation burned away at Tab's mind as he skated furiously through the bus terminal, pounding each skate into the ground in hopes to vent his frustration on it, possibly.

_That bitch..._

His throat tightened in fury, and he sped up to put a stop to the thoughts springing into his head.

_That nasty, skanky bitch! She lied - she's just like them! I can't believe I liked her - I can't believe I ever trusted her! _

It was still unbelievably hot outside - the sun hung high in the cloudless sky, a bright white orb that's light glanced off Tokyo-To, like a giant scrap of metal. 

It was so hot - almost as if some invisible hand had held a magnifying glass to the sun in hopes of frying them all, like little, scurrying ants. 

Tab remembered seeing the kids at school, when they were younger, next to an ant-pile, magnifying glasses ready.

_'Heh - look at 'em fry!'_

_'OH! I got two at once!'_

_'Cool!'_

_'Hey Taro, what's up with you!? Dontcha wanna join us?'_

_Tab continued walking by, arms clenched around his text books. Footsteps came up behind him._

"No..."

Tab shook his head furiously. This **wasn't **the time to be reminiscing... 

He grinded down the stair banister into the half-pipe, skates clattering loudly on the concrete as he landed. 

_I hate Mew - I hate her, I hate her, I hate her!!_

He growled slightly to himself, before speeding up his dash down the pipe.

_I gotta get my mind off her..._

Tab hit his wristwatch, letting the music pour out. Turning up 'Yellow Bream' loud enough to quell his thoughts, he rushed down the half-pipe.

Halfway to Center Street, he took an abrupt turn, rode up the side of the half pipe, and flipped. As he passed the wall, he brought out a spray can and hastily scribbled 'Tab' across the concrete before he landed in the pipe again. He did this several times, until he'd sprayed his name along the pipe about twenty times. Sighing, he took off again, for Center Street.

Jumping in the pipe did lessen the angry feeling bubbling inside him, but the feeling remained, ready to jump and overwhelm him, and most likely make him scratch somebody's eyes out.

The gate gave a metallic clang as he shoved it aside, with much more force than intended - he didn't care though, obvious by the way he marched up the steps, fists clenched.

_I sat far back in the corner of the History classroom, hunched over my paperwork as I filled out questions about the Vietnam War - I was far ahead, certainly farther than everyone else. I knew that I was probably going to be the only one with no homework, unlike Miyazaki and her friends as they giggled and chatted a few desks away from me._

_Suddenly, a wad of paper smacked me in the side of my head. I looked over at Miyazaki furiously – she was giggling at me._

_Face burning, I grabbed the wad of paper and was ready to chuck it back when –_

_'Miss Sumner, get back to work! And see me after class – students shall not disrupt this class by throwing things!'_

_'But – Miyazaki started-'_

_'Get back to work!'_

_Miyazaki was giggling again._

Angrily, Tab hurled a spray can at the wall he'd been considering tagging, where it exploded, leaving a large spatter of orange paint across the bricks. The broken shell of the can clattered loudly to the ground, dripping with remaining paint. 

_Where is all of this coming from? …Sumner? Who the hell is Sumner?_

He kicked the remains of the spray can several yards down the incline, watching as it clattered away, leaving a trail of orange paint.

_Scared._

_I was scared out of my mind._

_No – I was terrified._

_I'd just killed my father! But – what had happened? Everything had gone red – I felt so ANGRY – but I'd never hurt my dad!_

_…I couldn't have done it!_

_It was dark outside as I skated wobbly through Shibuya – I still hadn't spent enough time practicing on my skates!_

_Suddenly, pink smoke exploded in front of me. Coughing, I stumbled back, frightened._

_"Hey little girl, you certainly look heart-broken!"_

_I squinted and saw a tall figure in the smoke. The breeze eventually blew away the smoke, leaving curling tendrils of it that snaked around my skates._

_"What's a lonely looking girl like you doing out at this time of night?"_

_I hopped from foot to foot, looking over the girl's spiked-pink hair and unusual getup._

_"What's it to you?" I scoffed airily, the coldness floating in the air biting through my words._

_"Would you like to join the Love Shockers, kid?"_

Tab shook his head furiously.

_What the hell!?_

He'd recognized that Love Shocker… What was her name? 

Fuck. He couldn't remember.

Wait –

He froze. How come he couldn't remember? That was the exact same Love Shocker they'd worked with – Kayleigh, or Kate, or something –

But why couldn't he remember?

_Dammit – maybe old age is catching up with me extremely early… or, I'm jes too tired to think – or something! There's an explanation, I jes don't want to figure it out right now…_

~

Grey-blue fog as far as the eye could see… little images floating past, each telling a story…

Mew looked around and shivered.

_Where am I?_

She continued walking, trying to ignore the little picture screens floating past. Suddenly, one literally smacked her in the face – but instead of feeling anything, she was plunged headfirst into the memory.

_'All right, that's good, but can you do – this?'_

_I leapt on the rail, jumped over the telephone box, jumped onto the stair rail, rode it round, and landed on the bus shelter._

_'Try that!'_

_The kid just grinned, backed up, and dashed at the rail. He landed right in front of me a few seconds later._

_I nodded my approval._

_'You got talent, kid. No doubt about that. I guess I could join your gang!'_

Mew landed heavily on the ground again, dusty blue fog curling past. Getting up, she brushed off her dress.

"I think I'm in Tab's head!!"

Shaking her head, she continued forward.

After accidentally stumbling into a few other memories – including one of what Tab felt when he first saw her join the GGs – she came into a clearing, as if an invisible dome to ward off the fog shielded off the area.

And on the ground, little tendrils of blackish-purple light curling around her body, was-

"Indigo!"

Mew rushed forwards, only to be thrown back to the ground by an invisible barrier. 

"What the-"

She began pushing herself to her feet, and winced. Little waves of blackish-purple light crackled up her body a few times, like electricity – they diminished quickly, however.

She reached her hand forward, and felt it brush against a barrier that shuddered slightly underneath her touch, as if she were touching melted glass. 

"Indigo?"

The girl at her feet, however, didn't move. The light continued snaking around her, slowly. As Mew watched, pulses of pale purple light traveled away from Indigo's body, carrying along the ground. Her eyes followed a pulse and she watched in amazement as it leapt from the ground and slammed into one of the floating memories, completely obliterating it. Slowly, another memory appeared, and from Mew's position, she knew it wasn't Tab's. 

It took a few seconds to register before –

"Oh shit."

Mew tried to shove her hand through the barrier, but the only thing she achieved was a shock through her hand.

"Indigo, Chloe, whatever – WAKE UP! Come on, wake up – if you don't, you're gonna destroy Tab's head – or something! Just – WAKE UP!!"

It wasn't working. Mew hit at the barrier, now ignoring the shocks of pain slapping at her hands. 

"WAKE UP!"

Mew's eyes shot open, and she sat up quickly. Blinking furiously, she looked around wildly to see the same, dark room, and the bloodstained body next to her.

Her face felt stiff, and she ran her finger down her cheek to feel the dried tears.

He'd called her a bitch.

_Maybe because I am…_

She hugged her knees to her chest and bit her lip against the tears.

_It's not fair… I changed – I changed, dammit!_

Maybe – just maybe – she hadn't? What if – if she still was like that?

_But I'm not – I'm not!!_

She shut her eyes tight, and clenched her fists.

_I'm different! I can change, I did change – why can't he see that!? _

After finally coaxing herself to calm down, she finally took full grip of the situation.

"So, I've just had another dream where I'm in somebody's head."

She nodded, to reassure herself.

"And I was in Tab's."

Nodded again.

"And I saw Indigo – again."

Nod.

"But she wouldn't wake up, and as it seems – she has no control over herself, so her memories are leaking into Tab's head, and they're destroying his memories."

Nod, again.

"So, if she doesn't wake up soon, then she'll take over his body and basically obliterate his being."

Nod.

"Shit."

~

Kell stood in front of the Love Shocker base, hand still extended for the doorknob.

She **really **didn't feel like having to tell Jay and the others that she'd been with the GGs, and was _especially_ not in the mood to have to explain to them about the monster. They were still under the impression that Shar had just up and disappeared, or gotten arrested.

Too bad the truth was she was a pile of bloody human remains that had been long cleaned up.

Kell chewed her lower lip thoughtfully, trying to figure out something, _anything_, to get out of dealing with the others, if only for a few hours – just enough time to think up some sort of story to save herself.

Too bad life wasn't so giving, because then they wouldn't have had to deal with schitzo rudies and wacked voodoo creepy things. 

Kell gave an involuntary shudder at the thought.

_Well, it's over. The… monster thing should be dead, gone, whatever… No more bloody bodies lying around Tokyo, no more allying with the GGs, no more Miyazaki, no more Chloe, no more nothing. Yeah, nothing. That's a word I like when it describes what we have to deal with. Nothing. That's a nice word._

She grinned a little, despite her predicament.

_Nothing._

What's left of the monster?

_Nothing._

What else do we have to deal with?

_Nothing._

"Nothing," she repeated, out loud. But it didn't make her feel better.

Her voice had been shaking, just like her hand as it hung there, inches from the metal door handle.

~

Mew paced frantically around the Garage, skates clattering on the floor as she subconsciously avoided the many obstacles around the room.

"I need a plan, I need a plan…" she repeated over and over, voice high and strained.

"Think, Mew, think!!"

Cursing silently, she punched the radio to make it stop blaring out Let Mom Sleep for the twentieth time that day. She was beginning to believe what she had said earlier – K was _obsessed…_

She did another round around the Garage before –

"Wait a second –"

She stopped abruptly, eyes widening slightly.

"That's IT! I got it!!"

Doing a turn around, Mew scurried towards the door, yanked it open, and dashed out into the streets of Shibuya.

~

"Okay, this better be right… Indigo, Chloe, whatever… you're just not worth it… but Tab is… I better be right about this…" Mew mumbled to herself in reassurance as she dashed through the shadows cast by the houses in Benten.

"Now where did Beat and Kell go…?" She scurried around the corner, looking around.

"This has got to be the place…" 

Slowly, Mew pulled open the door and slithered inside through the tiny crack, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

She crept along the hallway, pressed against the wall to use the shadows as a mask. She could faintly hear the sound of music coming from far down the hall, and as she got closer, it melted into the familiar beats of 'Sneakman'.

Sucking in her breath, Mew peered around the corner warily. She could see DJ K rummaging through a box full of records.

Sneakman ended, and K threw the record back into the box. After giving a quick report and announcing the next song (Dragula), he threw on the record.

"All right kiddies, here's a bit of Grind City crap for ya! I'm gonna go get me that coffee I wanted now! Haha!"

He left the room through a door opposite to the hallway entrance Mew was hiding in.

"Go time!" Mew sang, before jumping around the corner. She dropped to her knees in front of the box and began digging frantically through it, ignoring the gritty floor smearing on her stockings. 

Her fingers clutched at the smooth surfaces as she flipped through them, until – "Ahah!"

She grabbed out two records, both together in a clear slip. 

She was about to pull out the second record and toss it back in, when she stopped.

"Ya know, I could use this… maybe," she muttered, flipping over the slip to examine the second record. 

"Whatever," she finished. Slipping the records under her arm, she got up and slid out of the room and back into the streets of Benten.


	12. You Will Die

Chapter Twelve

By Tallulah

The garage was baking, and when Mew hurried back inside it the heat struck her like a wall of sponge.  Yawning, she rubbed dusty sweat off her nose, and tried not to feel sleepy.  She had to think.  She had to get this right.  If she got it _wrong – _

                Well, she had no clue what would happen, but it wouldn't be good.

                "Guys!" she yelled.  There was silence.  Good.  No GGs to get in the way of this.

                Okay.  Okay.  _Think.  Tab needed to come back to the garage – _

                Well, if she was right about what Indigo was doing to him, sooner or later he'd be feeling pretty weird himself.  So maybe he'd decide he'd got sunstroke or something – 

                But by then he could have been nearly mentally obliterated.

                Okay.  Okay.

                She got to her feet, and hurried over to the sound system, thanking her lucky stars that Beat had a slightly retro edge to his taste that had caused him to invest in a record turntable as well as a radio.  

                Her fingers were sticky, and left smears across the shiny surface of the record.  This was the first one – the one that had started all the trouble – part of her really wanted to snap it in two, but if she did she'd never save Tab.

                Or Indigo.                   

                Trembling, she fitted the record onto the turntable, placed the needle on the groove.  Everything she touched was cool, and her hands seemed to become stickier and clumsier the more she used them.  But eventually the song was ready to play.

                Okay.

                She went into the bathroom, and found a half-open packet of earplugs that Piranha had bought when Cube had been planning to listen to the all-night Marilyn Manson Marathon.  

                Then she lifted her watch to her mouth and set it to contact Tab's.

                "Tab?  Get back to the garage, now!"

                A long, static-ridden silence, and then he snapped, "Shut up."

                "This isn't about me!  There's something serious going down!"

                "Yeah.  You're a big fat liar.  I…"

                There was another silence.  Mew felt her stomach wriggle with nerves.  When you were cursing someone you didn't just _stop…_

                Finally Tab spoke again.  "I'm not coming back."

                "You're hallucinating, aren't you?  Your head's going funny."

                "I…"

                "I can help you!  Come back and I can help you!"

                "How can you help me – you _come on Miyazaki, how can you help?"_

_                Tab's voice, but _he'd _never known her real name – _

                _"Tab, get back here!"  _Mew heard her voice crack, and swallowed as tears burnt at her eyes.  "Please.  Before it's too late…"

                "I'll come back to tell you _exactly what I think of you…"_

                And then his voice trailed off again.

                Mew cursed a few times, her voice shaking, before rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, taking a deep breath, and marching over to the garage door.  There she leant against the wall, just next to where the door would land if someone flung it open.  

                Each minute was like a bite out of her.  What if he didn't come?  What if he did and he was fine, just hating her still?  What if the monster had got him?  What if she couldn't pull this off and him and Indigo were lost forever?

                _I can do it.  I can do it._

_                Don't be dumb, she reminded herself.  You probably __can't do it and if you can it'll be only luck._

                _If I could do it – if I could save their lives – I wouldn't be Miyazaki the bitch – I'd be Mew who's cool and helps people –_

_                Helps people?  Like a Girl Guide?  A form captain?  Oh _please.  _You never wanted to be like any of that lot.  _

                _But I don't need to be a bitch either – _

_                In the GGs I'm not a bitch –_

_                In the GGs you're a pathetic little kitten who plays up to everyone.  _

                _Well so what?  It's not important any more.  What's important is I help them now.  I – I killed Yo-Yo – I got to make amends somehow – _

_                And I **was a bitch to Indigo – **_

_                She didn't like that thought.  It tangled in her ribs like a snake._

                _But if I can do this, I can save her, I can maybe make up for it…_

_                Footsteps outside.  Stumbling, skated footsteps.  Mew imagined the wheels of the skates scattering the fine, milky dust that coated the alleyway.  And shadows deep and dark against the hot, graffiti-covered wall.  Quickly she squinched the earplugs up, and popped one into each ear, and sound flattened and left her in a cocoon of silence._

                The door opened, and Tab staggered inside.

                Mew waited until he'd reached the middle of the garage floor, then crept forward, pushed the door shut and locked it.

                Tab turned, and frowned.  "What – what are you doing?"  His voice was faint and far away as if she was listening through fog.

                "Don't worry.  I'm just trying to –"

                "Let me _out –"_

_                He rushed towards Mew.  She didn't waste time trying to block the door, just dodged round him and ran for the record player, and even as Tab grabbed her wrist, she reached out, switched on the music, then charged into the other room, where Indigo/Scarlet/the monster's body lay, and dropped to her knees and clutched its cold wrist, trying not to think __yuck…_

_                "What – that music –"  Tab blinked.  She'd dragged him in here with her.  "It's – it's dangerous – isn't it?"_

                "No.  Why don't you groove a little?"  Her voice rang in her head, like it did when she got a cold.  "It might make you feel better."

                She was praying Tab's memory of what dancing to this music did had already been obliterated…

                Tab shrugged, then started bobbing his head and swinging his arms to the rhythm.  Mew could only faintly hear it, like it was on someone else's Walkman, and part of her really wanted to pluck out these plugs and dance till her feet burnt off…

                No.  Not until the right time.

                She watched Tab, and kept a grip on Indigo's wrist.

                And slowly, slowly, he changed – no longer staggering.  Walking taller, and – and prowling, yeah, and his eyes seemed darker under his hat, and slowly, slowly, a cruel smile crept across his mouth…

                Yes.

                With her free hand, Mew reached up and plucked out the earplugs.  Sound rushed back into her skull, and she started to move to the music (as well as you could when kneeling and holding someone's wrist with one hand).  It wasn't as hard as she'd thought it would be.  The song licked her, hot and smooth like rolling naked in sand…and her body was just part of the music anyway…

                "Tab.  Tab."

                She kept whispering it as the walls fell away and the sunset beat down on her.  The music wrenched at her arms, struggling to keep her dancing, but she tensed, and whispered his name over and over again.

                And now she could feel it.

                The monster was still alive, and it was pummelling at her head, snarling and screaming in hate.

                And as it roared, the sky darkened, and the clouds peeled and cracked like dead skin, and the sand rushed away, pouring around her feet, and she stood in the meaty, crimson darkness.

                Tab was still dancing, a few feet away from her.

                She rushed towards him, calling his name, but he didn't seem to hear her.  

                "Tab!"

                But as she got closer, he seemed to grow – no, it wasn't _him, _it was the faint blue aura around him – it was oozing towards her like water – and it lapped at her feet, and she took a deep breath, and dived in, and was hit by a million pictures.

_Music that's violently smooth – Jet Set Radio!  Oops, didn't mean to trip you there, Taro.  I don't care if your mummy said you can't, I'm gonna make you!  Skates.  Not bad, are they?  Let's check your qualifications.  I think I'll call it the GGs.  Gum-chan!  Of course I didn't scratch your skates, would I do a thing like that?  Kogane summer and the air smells so bad my nose is dead.  Benten winter and it's only warm under the neon.  Shibuya spring and damn those cherry blossom petals, they stick in my skates.  Super Mario rules, what are you, stupid?  Say you're a freak, Taro, go on, say it.   Shut up!  Leave me alone!  Mew…Mew, come on…don't die girl, I need you and if you go you'll drag me down and then I'll be so mad with ya…you bitch, you bitch, nasty skanky bitch damn it how could you do that –_

_                And suddenly a clearing, and a pulse of purple floating like old newspaper in the middle of the blue._

                "Indigo…"

                Did she call it?  How could she?  If she opened her mouth, Tab's memories would drown her…

                There.  Indigo lay still, eyes closed, skin pale as semolina.  Purple-black light still fizzed from her body, and every so often another picture-memory was fried.

                Okay.  Okay.

                Mew took a deep breath, and ran (swam?  Thought?) towards Indigo's body.  

                "Come on, girl," she murmured (thought?), grabbing hold of Indigo's wrist.  "We're getting out of here…"

                Yeah.  They would get out now.

                Okay.  Okay.

                _How _exactly would they get out?

                Wait until the music had finished.  That was the only thing to do.

                She tried not to notice the sparks still shooting off Indigo, tried not to think of the memories being vaporized like straw in a bonfire.  Tried not to wonder what Tab, possessed by the monster, could be doing in the real world.  Tried not to look at Indigo's pale face and claggy, dead skin.  Tried not to worry that she could be stuck in here forever – maybe years had passed already – maybe she would die in someone else's mind – 

                Wait.

                The music had been singing still, far away where she could only just hear it – and now – now it had stopped –

                And suddenly the purple sparks burnt themselves out, and around her, a thousand Tab-memories seemed to flicker into life again, and she smiled…

                And then the blue around her peeled away like torn sky, and she was left kneeling in the darkness, clutching Indigo, and the voice roared out of the darkness and it knew she was there and it hated her and it was going to catch her and –

**                _You wretch!  I'll kill you for this!  _**

_                Rip Tear Slice Cut Bleed_

_                Mew heard herself sob, and she wrapped her arms round Indigo's body, and yelled, "Wake up….oh please please please wake up…Chloe…"_

                **_Go on, cry!  Cry, scream, it's all good, rip you up_**

_                "I want to go back…I want to get out of here…"_

**                _You'll never get out of here…never…never…never_**

**"I will.  I've got to.  None of this is real."**

                _Never…never…never…_

_                "None of it!  It's all a big dumb hallucination!  It's not real!"_

                _never…_

                And even as she began to scream properly, she felt herself falling back into her body.  Her legs and arms stopped being virtual and became part of _her again, and the bones were heavy and the blood beat in her wrists and fingertips like hail stones._

                And Indigo turned into purple light, and leapt out of Mew's clasped arms and down into the cold-skinned wrist that the GG had been clutching.

Indigo didn't know exactly when she woke up – didn't remember it – all she knew was suddenly she was _there again.  _

                Ceiling; clumps of dust in the dark corners, and an uncovered, cracked light bulb.

                Hard, gritty floor.

                Terrified fingers, the nails digging into her wrist.

                Indigo sat up, and saw Mew, eyes vacant, holding onto her – 

                And Tab – blinking, looking dizzy and clutching a bread knife in one hand like he didn't know what to do with it.

Mew tried to open her eyes, throw off the darkness of the monster's head like it was a picture from a dream –

                _Something _grabbed her by the mental throat.

                _I told you…you're not getting away so easily…_

                "She's…in _its _head?" Tab whispered.  "I – I don't get it…"

                Indigo blinked, and looked around.  She was sitting in a small, dark room, and beyond its doorway was another, bigger area – a car – a dog kennel – a sound system –

                And on top of the sound system –

                She yelled, "Mew, _stay in its head!"_

                Then she leapt to her feet – tried to ignore the sudden needles of blood running through her veins – and ran for the sound system.  Snatched the first record off the turntable, snapped it in half, grabbed the second one, slammed it down and set it to play.

                "Hold onto it, Mew!"__

                And the music roared out – whispering, but _angry whispers, the song of vengeance and attack, filling the garage like a rock fall._

Mew struggled, kicked, tried to scream, but the blackness was sticking to her, as damp and hot as blood.

                _It'll kill me and there's nothing I can do –_

_                Tab…_

_                And then suddenly the music began, like a ray of sunshine leaping through the dark._

                Mew felt the darkness shudder as if it was sick, then it wriggled away from her – she was becoming herself again – it was leaving –

                "Oh no you don't," she whispered.  "You be scared for a bit…"

                And she reached out, and wrapped her fingers (mind?) in it as if she was scrabbling in mud.       

                _No!  No!  No!_

_                And as she clutched at it, the music's light grew stronger and stronger, and the darkness swayed and struggled, and tangled itself around Mew's hands, but there was nowhere for it to run – and it shrivelled –_

                Shrank –

                Rushed away –

And Mew was left, sitting on the garage floor, staring at nothing but light and dust and Indigo and Tab's confused, nervous faces.


End file.
